Only handicapped people need special privilege

PERKASA treated Chinese New Year, a funeral ceremony by giving "White-Envelope"

2012-01-29T23:32:00.004+08:00

"When giving money on festive or auspicious occasions, you should never put money in a white envelope or you would face the resentment of the recipient! Money wrapped in white envelopes is given when the occasion is sad, like funerals, when a gift of money is given to help with the funeral costs.

This is called 'Pak Kum' money for the family of the departed. So if you ever come across a Chinese client please think twice about giving his or her fee in a white envelope although in our western countries it would be unlikely to offend. "

Either, he cannot find red packets or he didn't bother to find out...

oh yeah! next time some1 pls spend PERKASA member makan BAK KUT TEH during buka puasa!

Baywatch Malaysian style at Pantai Sepat

2012-01-29T15:47:00.001+08:00

baywatch bertudung

Can swim effectively or not? Too much weight

They will sink faster bcos the baju weigh them down

Why do they need to bring the loud speaker along.... for shouting for help

Hey, maybe underneath the tudung there's a Pamela Anderson body underneath..

Kamal Ashnawi the world 1st Trillionaire?

2012-01-27T00:51:00.003+08:00

TheStar.com.my

some of the interesting QUOTES...

“I grew up in Tanjung Malim and my family here is very simple and ordinary. Nobody in my family talks about our royal blood and wealth. But my grandmother once told me: “You are special and, when the time comes, you will know.”

They hiked up a mountain for four hours and reached a cave guarded by an old couple who, Kamal says, are immortals.

“If you tried to pass them without their blessing, you would cough blood and die,” he said.

Inside the three-metre-high cave, Kamal saw gold bars stacked like a pagoda, US$15mil (RM46mil) in jade and US$10mil (RM31mil) in diamonds and stacks of US dollars.

“He said I was the reincarnation of Emperor Nurhaci (1661-1626) of China. He felt an energy on my head which was superhuman because an emperor, unlike an ordinary human, has to think more.

“I'm the reincarnation of two emperors of China,” Kamal added.

He elaborated that a few years ago, the royal family decided he would be the sole administrator of the royal wealth kept in secret accounts in about 1,000 banks worldwide.

“This means that 86.7% of the world's money belongs to me,” he said.

He produced an A4-sized paper with the photographs of the national treasure, the immortal couple and several “official-looking” letters from an international bank certifying he has an account of five trillion euros (RM20tril).

“That is a small amount. I have more money in other banks and institutions,” he added.

Kamal has not made any withdrawal from the account as “it is not money that you can move just like that”.

“The money is under the control of Indonesia, Germany, Britain, the US and the Euro Central Bank and I've got to go smooth with them,” he said.

“I can't use the money directly but I will invest in certain projects. Like three trillion euros (RM12tril) to green a desert in China.”

Born in the year of the dragon, Kamal believes 2012 is his year. In March, he says he will negotiate with institutions such as the IMF to be recognised as the Emperor of Indonesia.

Ceylyn Tay Wei Lung

2012-01-18T11:13:00.002+08:00

"A two-party system such as in the United States and United Kingdom can exist because they are single-race countries. In a single-race country, you can have a two-party system because there is no racial differences.

"But in Malaysia, we can't. The worst outcome here is to have a two-race system. This is not beneficial to the Chinese. Everyone should think carefully," she urged.

***I'm no genius but I am sure USA no single race country...

*** Anyway, Look at BERSIH2.0... more malay than chinese le...

Sodomy III??? Yuli Arianto

2012-01-10T23:08:00.003+08:00

Lol, is he really Indonesian?, the words the he typed doesnt sound like it, look like a Malaysian pretending to be Indonesian

so we will see anwar in court again?
man this is more interesting then LOTR or Star Wars series

Sodomy3 need someone who is well known.

Like chef wan or aZnil nawawi to be more convincing.

Cannot use a nobody again

Assaulted student Safwan Anang: Cop asked me to lie

2012-01-01T23:03:00.002+08:00

http://wargamarhaen.blogspot.com/2012/01/assaulted-student-cop-asked-me-to-lie.html

This looks very painful.

Shameful act of violence against youth who are not arm & cannot protect themselves.....

The youth are rising. Government underestimate Malaysian youths. Just wait and see.

If this incident happened in other civilizations, revolution might have started.

Lucky Malaysian is peaceful.

AFGHANISTAN before TALIBAN

2011-12-29T11:12:00.000+08:00

melayu cantik... mat salleh agree... Part 2

2011-12-26T22:39:00.002+08:00

More Malay guys will become gays if more Malay woman keeps on wearing tudong and crazy ass colourful curtain as their clothing. They should dress up more like kpop artis and wear skimppier clothing. Then Malay guy for once can enjoice and feel geli geli for the opposite sex instead of having to choose which colourful gunny sack to choose from. Why do you think all of them crazy for ahmoi?

I think it's time for scholarship's sponsor to screen candidates for gayness during interviews.

Dato Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil using Fusionexcel !

2011-12-26T22:35:00.002+08:00

FE Welcomes QP Wearer, Dato Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, former Minister for Woman, Family and Community Development, Malaysia. Dato Seri Shahrizat is currently Advisor to the Prime Minister on Women & Social Development.

FusionExcel Website

Using personal Bank acc to receive public donation

2011-12-25T15:39:00.002+08:00

Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Dr Awang Adek Hussin has admitted that he received a cash contribution through his personal bank account, as alleged by a blogger.

However, he denied the cash contribution was a bribe, saying it was donated from various quarters for social programmes in Bachok, Kelantan, where he is the Umno division chief.

EX-Selangor MB to appeal 12-month jail sentence in land and bungalow case

2011-12-24T08:53:00.002+08:00

Orang kelas atasan vs orang kelas bawahan

Adam Adli

2011-12-24T00:17:00.006+08:00

'Adam, I am very proud of you and hope there will come a day when I am able to shake the hands that lowered the flag of Najib.

This kind of youngsters made those hard-core UMNO scare…

Hats off to him...hope won’t be any c4 incident after this

Well, this is the time where the youth deliver its message with an action.

Correct me if I am wrong, in Tunisia roughly about a year ago also a vegetable seller unigraduates were push to the extreme. Then with the desire of call for change then he torch himself up to deliver his message.

Wonder in Bolehland when it will reach a stage where one will stood up and make that change.

I think because he made this public, he’s untouchable.

If something happens to him or ISA come.

PR and NGO will make huge fuss about it.

Don’t think UMNO wants that

Man Chops off WIfe's finger to stop her studying

2011-12-19T11:00:00.000+08:00

Why all the Europeans can't resist Asian beauty?

2011-12-19T04:55:00.000+08:00

petronas has struck another oil well in that student.

Armand Azha @ Abang Ludah

2011-12-19T04:27:00.004+08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ytpt_ykk5Z8&feature=player_embedded

see this gangster face? wanna spit on mahasiwa face...

Those are PEKIDA/PERKOSA henchmen.

his facebook https://www.facebook.com/armandpju

i stim a bit when he say "jadi kuda anwar ibrahim" what he mean?

Is he talking big just because of his size? Tell him to get a life.

This is what u call melayu makan melayu.If PERKASA is so patriotic, why dont they go ganstering all the PATI & awang hitam who have done a lot of burden to rakyat(particularly) ?And still UMNO people believe UMNO is malay saviour. Come on man, use ur precious ALLAH given brain lh. Think for once.

really?talking about god like houlier than thou but his wife doesnt even wear tudung?tiru bijan ka?

Politician pick on students.Go pick on other politicians. No bawls punya.Try saying ludah and tampar on other politician.

Sap Chuen (One Stop) Food Court

2011-10-17T21:19:00.002+08:00

Semporna

2011-08-26T10:27:00.000+08:00

Children of the Bajau Laut play in the sea during low tide on Gusungan Island in the Celebes Sea, near Semporna, in the east coast of Sabah, Borneo, Malaysia

JAIS Stormed Church & spend 2 hours Kacau-Kacau

2011-08-06T11:10:00.000+08:00

JAIS needs 2 hours to interview people or lecture the people there not to attend because of religion? I dunno u dunno. Cannot makan nasi Kandar near church also la.

so what happen to this ? AJIB enter the Biggest church of all, shouldnt he be INTERVIEW too by JAIS?

Why did Utusan Malaysia Removed The Article "Beli Guna Duit Menabung Dari Kecil - Rosmah"

2011-08-05T10:56:00.004+08:00

Project IC intensify...

2011-08-04T10:32:00.001+08:00

The problem isn't that. The problem lies in the criteria in which the citizenships are issued. Clearly there needs to be a revamp on the system. People waiting 22 years can't get citizenship, and just near around the elections, these people are given the citizenship.

I have no problems with immigrants voting. If you join Malaysia, you're part of Malaysia.

My suggestion of revamp;
1.) Issue three types of Citizenship
a) Natural (Naturally born in the country)
b) Permanent Resident (only PR status)
c) Unnatural (Receiving citizenship via application)
2.) Increasing minimum years for PR from 5 to 6 or 8 years before being able to apply for citizenship
3.) Education access to those who receive citizenship to enable their kids to go to school

Anyway, just my 2 cents.

Oman's rocky

2011-08-01T21:31:00.000+08:00

The unspoilt Jabal Shams- called the Grand Canyon of Arabia - provides that perfect break from city life along with ample opportunities to indulge in adventure sports

As the mercury keeps climbing, residents in the region make a beeline for the airports to get away to a cooler place during the scorching summer.

And Oman provides choices for those who want to take short flights or even take to the road, especially for those in the UAE.

While Muscat is as hot as any other city in the GCC, Oman's east, south and northeast areas enjoy much better weather now.

The inbound tourist traffic to Oman's Dhofar region increases manyfold during the Khareef season. The temperature in the region remains low, with a continuous, slow drizzle, which beckons visitors to Salalah and the other areas in the Dhofar region.

Cool getaway

However, the 90-minute-plus flight to the southern region could be off-limits to some pockets. However, there are other much cooler places in Oman, where one can reach by driving three hours from Muscat and almost six hours from Dubai.

Jabal Shams is one such place, which offers pleasant weather, breathtaking views and a rustic way of life.

We decided to spend a weekend at Jabal Shams and the first thought was food, as vegetarian dishes could be a problem in a place where, three years ago, there was no lodging facility and visitors had to pitch their own tents.

However, Kownain, the affable manager at the Jabal Shams base camp (JSBC), assured us there wouldn't be any problem with vegetarian food at their camp, which had been started only two years ago.

JSBC, which is 2,000 metres above sea level, is one of the two options available for boarding at Jabal Shams, also known as camel hideout.

Diverse topography

Oman offers diverse topography but as we got nearer to Jabal Shams, we realised it would have been a mistake not to visit this mountain range, which boasts canyons that are compared by travellers with the Grand Canyon of Arizona in the US.

The highest point of Jabal Shams (also known as the Mount of the Sun) is 3,050 metres above sea level and part of the Jabal Al Akhdar (the Green Mountain) range. The long, sinuous road and a dirt trek to the 600-kilometre stretch of mountains is a spectacular drive but can also be a deterrent for some. Therefore, Jabal Shams is not crowded like so many other hill stations.

A heavy shower on the first evening made our day at the Jabal Shams. It not only brought the temperature down further but the rains stopped just before the canyons were doused in sunlight.

Twilight provided breathtaking views of the canyon, as several waterfalls streaming down the mountains appeared like white lines running across the mountains of varied hues.

A bright Sun can raise apprehensions as one approaches Jabal Shams but rest assured, if afternoons are pleasantly warm, the early mornings, evenings and nights can send you scurrying for warm clothes.

Snowy slopes

During winter, the mercury dips below zero in Jabal Shams and in the past two years, even snowfall has been reported here.

Located in the Dakhiliyah region of Oman, one should be respectful of the elevation and not be persuaded by allusions to sunlight that Jabal Shams is warm.

Even in the summer, the nights are chilly and if you stay overnight, it is advisable to carry warm clothes.

The area has many splendid hiking trails and it is a wonderful place to explore. However, the population is sparse and amenities limited, so remember to pack along whatever you might require during your time here.

Those looking for adventure can also opt for Jabal Shams, as it provides ample scope for trekking and steep mountain climbing. JSBC also provides experts to guide you through your adventure trips in canyons.

Best of both attractions

Fortunately, Jabal Shams is unspoilt terrain so far and offers perfect opportunities for solitude to those seeking to get away from the humdrum of daily city life.

You can also combine a trip to Jabal Shams with a visit to the nearby town of Bahla, which is known for its pottery.

And, of course, there are three forts that could be included in the itinerary — but more about forts some other time.

Every Friday Night at KLCC

2011-07-30T15:58:00.005+08:00

Anyone driven to klcc at friday night ?

why so many Homo Sapien riding bicycles with airhorn. They ride like they have 9 lifes...

Rempit in making?

'Diamlah' wake-up call for Najib

2011-07-30T15:41:00.002+08:00

Pink Rose in Oman

2011-07-25T15:09:00.002+08:00

It's almost an anomaly, the rose harvest in Oman. Instead of a scorched, levelled habitat, I found verdant terraces of rose bushes, freckled with pink blooms.

The rose growers are also farmers who grow crops such as garlic, onion and fruits including pomegranate. Many do not own land, but lease it from others

Only pink roses are grown and harvested in this northern region of the country

The journey helped me discover an area of the country that previously only heard of. "Even though my interaction with the rose growers and their families was limited, I wished I spoke their language to understand their lives better.

Iceland

2011-07-01T21:28:00.001+08:00

In Iceland, when the days are dark, the night sky comes alive with the northern lights. Then there are those volcanoes and hot springs

The mercury has dipped to way below zero. The cold is gnawing at my hands through my gloves. And the wind is roaring at Mount Skalafell, outraged that anyone should take to its 1,800-foot summit in such weather. I barely notice. Because above, the sky is moving. Splattered against the stars, a hazy patch of white is swirling like milk poured into black coffee.

A few hours earlier, my guide Ragnar Lovdal, had predicted this, almost sniffing the air as he declared that the cloudless skies would hold their clarity into the evening. He was right. And there they are: the northern lights.

In theory, I should be disappointed. I've listened to the dry science, to the explanation that, far from being supernatural, this iridescent display occurs when particles emitted by the Sun hit the magnetic fields above the Earth's poles.

And this is by no means the most dazzling example of aurora borealis, a phenomenon that can dance through a half-rainbow of yellows, greens and reds, depending on the conditions and the viewer's proximity to the top of the globe.

Yet I'm elated. After three nights under a shrouded firmament, we are finally in the presence of something that seems otherworldly.

Not only are the northern lights utterly at home here — visible from October to early March — but Iceland is a country that defines the word "otherworldly".

Dramatic views

A day before my date with the northern lights, I join Ragnar on the Golden Circle — a 306-kilometre route that links the key sights in the south and centre of the island.

This charred volcanic panorama is all the more dramatic for being seen in the darkest season.

The Sun rises sluggishly over Iceland in winter, scraping its belly on the horizon at about 10am, then hanging low. The effect is an almost lunar, wan light ebbing over cooled lava and basalt.

Hekla, the 4,882-foot volcano, has erupted four times in 30 years. In medieval times, the locals regarded its caldera as the mouth of destruction. But something about the scene binds it more to the 9th century, when Norse settlers first came ashore. This is a realm of the pagan deities, of Thor, Odin and Freyja.

This impression stays with me as we tour the Golden Circle — not least at Gullfoss, a three-step waterfall, where the Hvita River churns and spits through a steep canyon. Geysir, meanwhile, is a geyser of such fame that its name has become a byword but, nowadays, its thunder has been stolen by Strokkur nearby, which fires loud jets of water from its crater every five minutes.

As I approach the Blue Lagoon, 48 kilometres southwest of Reykjavik, the Sun is compressed to a flat disc behind the steam belching from the lava-heated bathing area. As I dig my toes into the soft ooze, I ponder that Iceland is not so hard after all.

Denmark Aalborg

2011-05-01T21:24:00.002+08:00

Aalborg is a melting pot of cultural, architectural and gastronomic delights

Who says size is important? Take Aalborg, in Denmark. It crams in more culture, good looks, fine food and cool shopping than anyone could expect for a town about the size of Bournemouth.

A waterside location on the Limfjord has shaped the flow of history across this North Jutland port, which, in the 16th and 17th centuries, rivalled Copenhagen, courtesy of the wealth from herring, glass-making and spices.

For decades, Danes have seen Aalborg as a jumping-off point for the beaches that stretch in a ribbon 161 kilometres up the Jutland coast from Hals to the 19th-century artists' colony at Skagen.

But Aalborg itself has found a new driving force in culture. This post-industrial transition is exemplified by Nordkraft, a former generating station that is in the process of turning into an artistic powerhouse. At present, Nordkraft is primarily a night-time venue, with arthouse flicks at the Biffen cinema or gigs at Skraaen. But the Kunsthal Nord gallery on the first floor provides a rough-hewn daytime draw, its contemporary art framed by old brickwork and metal ducts.

Have your fill of fish

Culinary pleasures complement cultural ones. Seafood, of course, is a familiar Danish delight — blue mussels, plaice, cod, salmon and herring — but Aalborg's chefs are also turning to the likes of aged goat's cheese from Nibe and mineral-rich sea salt from the island of Laes. Before lunch, we take in the waterfront homage to Aalborg's most famous modern son. Architect Jrn Utzon may be best known for designing the Sydney Opera House but the Utzon Centre shows how the master learnt his craft in Aalborg, taking inspiration from the curved hulls of the boats his father designed in the city's shipyards.

Wandering along the quay, we mull over options among Aalborg's restaurant boats. The musk ox and reindeer on the menu at the sturdy old ice-breaker Elbjrn are tempting but as it's sunny, we opt instead for a deck table and the laid-back ambience of the converted houseboat Den Fede Aelling. We tuck into plaice with lingonberries and capers as we watch the swing bridge rise and fall for yachts cruising out.

We set a course past the imposing 17th-century Aalborghus Castle into the old town, where pastel-hued period buildings now shelter shops mixing modern style with retro classics. Nrregade has some of the best, often tucked away in cobbled courtyards or tiny side streets, such as the vintage hotspot Det Gyldne Ddyr or the Lange ceramics gallery, amid period cottages on cobbled Hjelmerstald.

Feast in a fjord

We avoid the city's two most high-profile restaurants for dinner — the Michelin-noted Mortens Kro and the 400-year-old Sohngrdsholm Slot. We're happy to find ourselves back bobbing on the fjord aboard Prinses Juliana. This 80-year-old Dutch vessel now hosts distinct dining spaces of varying swishness, though the food is excellent wherever you sit. We go for twilight upper-deck water views, accompanied by turbot with foie gras on a compote of apples and pears, and braised monkfish and lobster on pea pureé with smoked almonds.

Back in town, 1000Fryd provides sharp post-dinner contrast. Hidden away on Kattesundet, this old-town hangout has dished up alternative Aalborg vibes for three decades. But Monday is quiet and we soak up the boho vibe in peace over a couple of organic refreshments.

The next morning, an amble through the tranquil Ansgar churchyard brings us to the sculpture-dotted Skovdalen and North Jutland's principal gallery, Kunsten. From its unflashy rectangular white exterior, you would never guess it was partly designed by Alvar Aalto, the Finnish "Father of Modernism"; he saved his genius for a light-flooded interior, where modern Danish art vies for attention with gorgeous fixtures and fittings.

I've no idea who the architect of the Budolfi church was but this is Aalborg's most outwardly beautiful building — a ravishing 14th-century affair on Algade (the main shopping street), mixing pale-walled serenity with painted wood panelling. The house of merchant Jens Bang is another eye-catcher.

Culture on show

We have lunch a stone's throw away at Sgaards Bryghus, on the restaurant-ringed CW Obels Plads. Back by the water, the industrial tangle near the Ostre Haven conceals Platform 4, our final cultural stop. Another post-industrial space, our visit finds local artists on show but its programme reveals upcoming events ranging from alt-cinema festivals to showcases of cool electronica.

A spectrum of arts, nosh and Danish chic. If these are small-town charms, I'm all for them.

the undying Kabul

2011-04-21T12:31:00.002+08:00

In the Afghan capital of Kabul, colours are vibrant, smells are pungent and the sun casts deep shadows on the low-rise buildings. And then there are the Afghans themselves, with their strong spirit, determined pride and quick smiles.

Across moor and mountain on trot

2011-02-21T12:27:00.000+08:00

My wife is wary of horses. "Expensive and unpredictable," she says. Her passions are looking for fossils and swimming in rivers — the colder the better. But I persuaded her to join me on an adventure — travelling on horseback across Wales, from Hay-on-Wye on the English border to Ynyslas on the Irish Sea.

Our trip was organised by FreeRein, a family enterprise that caters to people who have grasped the basics of riding and want to explore the countryside without a guide. It provides horses, accommodation and a choice of dozens of off-road routes in mid-Wales and beyond. These rides are the result of 20 years of research by Will Williams and his son Matt. They are open to anyone above the age of 10, though on unguided trails, there must be two people over 18 — all of which makes for a great family adventure for those with older kids.

Various levels of skill

I was brought up on a farm and have ridden much of my life. Simone learnt to ride in a burst of enthusiasm when we first met. she has barely ridden a dozen times since but was up for a challenge that would take us across moor and mountain. Our elder daughter, Miranda, who rode a succession of naughty ponies as a child, was home from university and decided to join us.

So there we were, on a sunny morning, at FreeRein's headquarters, an old coach house just outside the village of Clyro in the Welsh Marches. In front of us were two stacks of laminated sheets: Ordnance Survey maps with our route marked as a green dotted line and instructions for finding the way. Many of the rights of way we would be following have no signposts.

Our horses awaited. They had been chosen to match our height, weight and ability: Archie for Miranda, Florence for me and the unflappable Fraser for Simone, who was quietly miffed that I had described her as a novice rider. With our briefing from Matt complete and our saddlebags stashed with spare clothes and waterproofs, medical kit and emergency snacks, we trotted down the oak avenue and out into lanes sweet with the scent of honeysuckle. Ahead of us were six days of riding.

Our first day took us up across a common called the Begwns, where we trotted along wide turf tracks with views stretching in every direction. We meandered along bridleways through woods and meadows and across the rushing Wye River on a wooden suspension bridge to Llanerchcoedlan Farm, near Llyswen, home of the Phillips family. Vicki Phillips brought cups of tea out to the farmyard as we untacked the horses and gave them their feed of pony nuts before turning them out in a field nearby. She told us about a secret swimming place deep in the woods, so before supper, we slithered down a mossy bank to take a quick dip in a stream orange with peat, ducking behind a waterfall to look back at the gorge through the curtain of icy water.

Over the week, as we gently ambled westwards, we slotted into roles: Miranda as map reader, me as chief gate-opener and reader of the instruction sheets (example: "Follow the stony track until you reach a gate. DO NOT GO THROUGH THIS GATE. Turn left along the side of the wood") and Simone as bemused observer and trainee trekker.

Day 2 saw us cantering across miles of springy open moorland and skirting an army firing range. We passed a quarry where Simone found a handful of trilobites in the shale. Later we dismounted to lead the horses down a long and precipitous slope to the small town of Llanwrtyd Wells.

The other breakfasters at the Trout Inn in Beulah smiled as we ate our porridge: The weather forecast was grim. First it drizzled, then, as we met the Towy River, it bucketed down. Another three hours passed before we reached Pontrhydfendigaid, where we were booked into the Red Lion.

We got lost twice — but never for long. Once we took a wrong turning and once we missed a gate and found ourselves plunging through a tussocky bog. All three of us were happy: I loved the sense of moving through a changing landscape, Simone loved spotting buzzards and red kites and Miranda loved Archie and the huge cooked breakfasts. Much of the time we rode in companionable silence.

At the village of Devil's Bridge, we enjoyed the faded grandeur of the Hafod Hotel, built in the late 18th century and later remodelled in the style of a Swiss chateau. Devil's Bridge boasts spectacular waterfalls and three bridges on top of one another — the lowest constructed in the 11th century, the middle one in 1753 and the topmost in 1901.

Luck with the weather

Our first sight of the sea came as we left a forest: a far-off band of blue between hills. Sun turned to torrential rain once again and making a mess of remounting Florence after a gate, I found myself sitting in a puddle underneath her. I had forgotten to tighten the girth — a real beginner's mistake.

In the pub at Talybont, we relived the week's mapping squabbles — and woke to clear skies. It was a mere four miles to the wide and beautiful beach at the head of the Dovey estuary. Miranda cantered past me, shouting: "I'm winning, Mum!" A second later, Archie did some nifty footwork to avoid a patch of soft sand and she tumbled off, a look of outrage on her face.

As he jubilantly pointed out, the novice husband was now the only one of us not to have fallen off and he'd started to rather resent the label "novice". He was now a tried-and-tested rider: We'd done it — 100 miles on horseback.

Lithuania: The Coronian Spit, a treasure

2010-12-21T12:22:00.000+08:00

The Curonian Spit in Lithuania, which remains as it was about a century ago, is a nature lover's haven

There is a place on the Curonian Spit where fish fall out of the sky. No, really, my guide assured me — but by then, I would not have been surprised to find mackerel raining down on me. On the spit, one feels, anything is possible.

This fishy phenomenon, however, has less to do with the many local myths of witches and demons than the greedy, butter-beaked cormorants. So I waited, neck craned to the skies. Today, alas, the birds did not want to drop any of their catch.

The Curonian Spit, named after one of the early Baltic tribes that inhabited the region, is a curious place, a 60-mile-long finger of sand that stretches upwards from Russian Kaliningrad to the Lithuanian mainland, separating the waters of the Baltic Sea from the Curonian lagoon.

Across borders

The northern 32 miles of this peninsula belongs to Lithuania and can be accessed by ferry from the port of Klaipeda. Make a short hop across the strait and reach a national park and Unesco World Heritage Site.

I arrived about 10pm and drove southwards through a darkening forest. The spit averages over a kilometre wide, with a main road running between dunes to the Russian border.

After half an hour, we reached Nida, the southernmost settlement in Lithuanian: A tiny town of 1,500, which swells with visitors every summer and resonates to the sounds of Lithuanian, German and Russian.

The arrival of the Teutonic Knights in the 13th century paved the way for Prussian rule over the next 700 years, to be succeeded by the USSR after the Second World War.

Stay at the Nida Hotel or rent a guesthouse converted from fishermen's wooden cottages. Every house has a little restaurant in its garden, in which holidaymakers linger over beverages, while bicycles — the favoured form of transport — lean in wait.

This is far from a trendy resort. A haven of peace, the Curonian Spit has changed little since the 19th century, when a colony of German artists settled in Nida. Thomas Mann built a house, which is the focus of a music and art festival every July.

It is a place for nature lovers and, being on the migratory path of 20 million birds, a twitcher's delight.

It was the Sahara-style sand dunes that piqued my curiosity. Soft and creamy, they rise in places to almost 230 feet. With deforestation for ship-building between the 16th and the 18th centuries, the unfettered dunes began to drift with the winds, allegedly burying 17 villages.

The forests, which cover 70 per cent of the land, are the result of replanting in the 19th century. Signs explaining local flora and fauna lead through the forests while nature reserves protect the ecology.

The cycle route along the lagoon, past reed banks and swans guarding fluffy cygnets, is one of the most pleasant rides.

Lining the shore, colourful weathercocks, intricately carved with symbolic ensigns, swing on tall poles. Typical of this region, they were used to identify boats and control fishing quotas. Past the fishing harbour, we soon found ourselves in the forest, fragrant with wild strawberries. Elk and wild boar roam here.

Luxuries of a small town

Passing Vecekrugo dune, the highest forested hill on the spit, we reached the small fishing village of Preila. "This is where they make the best smoked fish on the spit," Neringa, my guide, told me. At a small market, nameless fish from sea and lagoon hung from hooks.

The four main settlements of Juodkrante, Pervalka, Preila and Nida, collectively known as the City of Neringa, are lagoon-side.

The Baltic shore, reached over the hump of dunes, is a long stretch of sand and Blue Flag beaches of shallow water.

Well tended, it is ideal for families, the greatest hazard being tripping over a half-buried bottle of refreshment left to cool in the sea. You can even hunt for tiny pieces of amber.

The spit is famous for this "Baltic gold" and Nida is full of shops selling amber jewellery.

Traditional ways

Algirdas Marcius, an amber master, explained the medicinal properties of this fossilised resin — from curing earache to regulating blood pressure. I watched him fashion a necklace of white amber, "a colour formerly reserved for the tsars".

The evening Sun smiled as Captain Aurelio hoisted the sails of his flat-bottomed, oak fishing boat — a copy of the traditional kurenai of the region, which disappeared in the Fifties.

We sailed along Parnidis Dune and Gliders' Dune beyond a nature reserve stretching into Russia. Grey herons and seagulls wheeled overhead.

"The spit is so unique that everyone must see it," wrote philosopher Wilhelm von Humboldt on his visit in 1809. Two hundred years on, his words still hold true.

Indian India Indiana

2010-10-21T12:19:00.002+08:00

From Chennai to Kochi, South India's temples, food and resorts leave guests asking for more.

Day 1

We arrived in Chennai after an easy 8-hour Emirates flight and were met by the Raintree Hotel staff. We then had an excellent dinner of kebabs at the sophisticated Roof Top restaurant of the hotel and soaked up the upper-class Chennai society.

Top tip: We stayed at the St Mary's Road branch of the Raintree.

Day 2

Akila, our guide from Storytrails, was waiting for us to finish our South Indian breakfast so we could begin our private tour of Mylapore in Old Chennai. We visited the Kapaleeshwar Temple, which dates back 400 years or so, and were enthralled by stories of why women whispered into Nandi the Bull's ear, why they tied sacred thread and toy cradles around trees considered holy and were even lucky enough to see some idols being brought out from their enclosures under great palanquins with great ceremony.

Top tip: Don't miss going to the back of the temple to take in the shoals of huge catfish! Also go for a lazy lunch to Tuscana, an Italian restaurant on Wallace Garden Road just off Khader Nawaz Khan Road (which has some very classy shops — think Tommy Hilfiger).

Day 3

Christopher, our driver, was ready to take us to Pondicherry (called "Pondy" by the locals) with a few detours!

Top tip and the first detour: Spend some time (and money) at the chic shopping complex at 85 Chamiers Road before heading out of Chennai. (They even have an eco café and a bookshop on the top floor.)

We included a quick stop at Dakshinchitra (South Indian crafts complex) and then had lunch at The Fisherman's Cove Hotel by the sea on the East Coast road — sublime prawn curry and local refreshments, even the kids were delighted to eat some home-made chicken and chips. We managed to make time for a quick stop for photos at Arjuna's Penance and the Shore Temple monuments before heading for Pondy.

Top tip: Buy a book and postcard of Arjuna's Penance from a local tout and try to spot all the aspects of this historic sculpture — the kids loved doing this.

Day 4

We enjoyed another South Indian breakfast on the terrace of our hotel, Maison Perumal (the House of Vishnu) in the Tamil quarter. This is a chic boutique hotel decorated with Indian historical prince prints and a bar full of retro Bollywood paraphernalia but the interiors and furnishings are French — a perfect blend of French and Tamil! There was no request that was too great for Dinu, the general manager of the hotel, who quickly became a friend, took us shopping and organised an erudite French-English-speaking guide for our trip to Auroville.

Top tip: Try the quiche or any food at the Auroville Café — it's better than many European equivalents. Refreshments that evening at Hotel De L'Orient preceded a delicious seafood dinner at Maison Perumal. Oh, I forgot — don't miss seeing Lakshmi the elephant at the town temple next to the women selling flowers.

Day 5

The long journey to Chettinad, specifically Kanadukathan, after a stop to take a look at the Big Temple at Thanjavur, led us to our next hotel, Visalam. Given as a dowry gift to Vishali, the daughter of a Chettiyar family, this has now been restored to an 11-bedroom Art Deco mansion hotel by CGH Earth. Do savour all the amazing meals served by the hotel — beetroot cutlets and Chettinad lamb are favourites with us now!

We spent an amazing day visiting mansions, seeing how sarees are woven and riding bikes — but the most mesmerising bit was the trip to the Athangadi tile factory, from where handmade tiles using Athangadi cement are sent to various parts of India. Many of the patterns I saw reminded me of hallways in Edwardian houses in England.

Oh, and you must swim in the cool swimming pool of the hotel.

Day 6

We couldn't head to Thekkady without paying homage to the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai. Moreover, as it was our wedding anniversary, we ended up doing the married-couple-blessing-thing with everyone else there! It was not an easy drive from there and we were grateful to our driver for insisting we get a guide for this temple, which was nominated for the ten wonders of the world. In Thekkady, we were hit by the cooler, greener, calmer surroundings and shivered in our summery, cotton clothes.

Day 7

The tour of the Spice Village at Thekkady with the Tiger Club leader was informative, fun-filled and free. Many know that pepper is the king of spices but did you know that cardamom is the queen?

Right from the fruit and vegetable gardens and the mushroom sheds to the recycled paper plant and the compost factory, there is only one word that describes all activities in this resort — "organic".

Top tip: Make sure you buy spices in bulk from the shops on the road outside the resort to take back home. Oh, and don't forget warmer clothes for this region.

Day 8

On to Kumarakom, Kerala's backwater city, and the Coconut Lagoon on Lake Vembanad. The children loved arriving at the reception by boat (or kettuvelam in Malayalam). We splashed about a bit and stayed at the pool villas. Don't miss the free early-morning yoga classes in an enclosure that has thin gauze netting for walls and views of the lake and a butterfly sanctuary. With the only sound being that of birds, how can one not feel calm?

Top tip: If there is anything you would like to eat that's not in the lunch buffet, the chefs will make it for you free of charge.

Day 9

The last stop was at an old converted shipyard, the Hotel Brunton Boatyard in Fort Kochi. Sightseeing in the old town was easy and a walk down the Old Jewish Quarter was interesting, especially because of its crafts shops and old temple. The best bit about Fort Kochi, however, was lunch at the Malabar House, an überchic boutique hotel.

Day 10

On the morning we were to take an Emirates flight back, I was impressed by how efficient the Kochi airport was!

Hari Raya in Alexandria Egypt

2010-09-21T12:25:00.001+08:00

Alexandria in Egypt comes alive during Ramadan with fun, feasts and festivities Anna AbouZeid captures the spirit of Eid Al Fitr in Alexandria through words and pictures

From the moment I stepped off the aircraft and into the Egyptian port city of Alexandria, it was clear that although the Eid Al Fitr holiday was still three days away, Egyptians were already in the holiday spirit. Even the ordinarily stoic customs officer couldn't resist breaking into a huge smile as he wished me koli sana we enti tayeba, or season's greetings.

But there's an almost eerie hush on the streets during the fasting hours of Ramadan. You can drive to your destination in record time, without the usual honking of horns, loud music playing from taxi stereos and the traffic jams that characterise most Egyptian roads — which is something unusual for the city.

However, just before fitar (the Egyptian variation of iftar) — particularly in the days leading up to Eid Al Fitr — all that changes. The city wakes up and comes alive once again.

Lighting up the streets

As I drive down the corniche — the city's main road along the seaside — I see shopkeepers and café owners sweeping the sidewalks in front of their stores and pulling tables outside in preparation for the guests' arrival at sundown. Traditional Ramadan lanterns adorn the streets, hanging from trees and street lamps.

Making my way into the old-town market, my senses are captivated — by the sights, the sounds and especially the smells. Traditionally, Egyptians eat fish for the Eid Al Fitr feast. So as the first day approaches, fishmongers lay the day's catch over ice, waiting for those fasting to come and take their pick for the festival.

Once you hear the call to prayer ringing through the streets, you know it's time to end the fast and say prayers. But some people, maybe because they are stuck in traffic on their way home or do not have the money to prepare a fitar meal, rely on the generosity of neighbours to end their fast. Every neighbourhood has a corner where a well-to-do family sets up tables and chairs and provides a meal for the community to share. It doesn't matter if you are rich or poor — all are welcome.

The hush in the streets during the fasting hours of Ramadan is in stark contrast to the activity inside the homes of Muslims on the days before Eid. Cleaning up and ensuring everything is in order to receive guests is essential. New clothes are purchased but stay neatly tucked away in the closet until the Shawaal. Parents make sure they have money, or eideya, to give children during Eid so they can buy their favourite toys.

Sweet specials

As in the rest of the Islamic world, special sweets are served during the feast. In the final days of Ramadan, shops start selling the special ingredients required for the konafa — a vermicelli-like pastry made in Egypt with ricotta cheese and honey — my favourite.

Egyptians also prepare katayef — small pancakes filled with chopped nuts, which are folded, fried and drizzled with honey, a perfect combination of crunchy, warm and sweet. Women spend days in the kitchen, preparing ghurayeba and kahk — a childhood favourite of mine — special Eid cookies filled with dates or nuts and tossed in powdered sugar — most delicious when dipped in a glass of hot, sweet tea.

I left Alexandria after the last fitar of Ramadan — but not without my eideya, two boxes of kahk and ghurayeba baked by my aunts and a sense of warmth and fulfilment.

This is the true spirit of the season.

Teoh Beng Hock

2010-09-21T12:15:00.000+08:00

I dont know about your guys but I am pretty sure MACC did a fuck up job for this case.

SUICIDE NOTES Found 2months after the death. Its just plain stupids

I am not sure who is the REAL head of MACC but he is sure stupid...

MAN... I have enough of malaysia... I QUIT!

Old Town White Coffee

2010-04-01T19:17:00.000+08:00

Sabah Dragon

2009-12-16T12:52:00.000+08:00

This is the story of a dragon as told by James Masandang, who has it from the late grandfather of the present Ketua Kampung of Muhang (July 2000).

Once upon a time there was a rich Rungus. He had a lot of gold and precious heirloom. He also had a little pet-dragon, very much like other people have dogs or cats. One day, the rich man wanted to go travelling, but he feared that while he was a way, someone might steal his treasured possessions. Finally he decided to hide them in a cave. To make sure nobody would go and steal anything from the cave he told his pet dragon to watch over the treasure and scorch everybody with his fire, should anybody approach.

After many, many years, the rich Rungus was already married and had grown up children. One day he decided that it was time to get his riches back and distribute them amongst his children. He went to the cave, where he hid the gold, but as he approached he saw himself confronted with a fiercely fire-spitting dragon. No imploring and no explanation could move the dragon to let the old man in. The dragon was now grown up, and only remembered his mission: to guard the treasure and not to let anybody near it.

There was no way to get to the treasure. The rich man employed men from far and near, promised them huge rewards, even his daughter, but nobody could overcome the dragon. In the end, there was nobody left who would dare to approach the dragon, despite the promised rewards.

But there was one single man left. He was thin and fragile, without any particular skill, and generally made the people laugh. He was known as the Joker. One day he approached the rich man and assured him that he would get the treasure back. „But, do you have any experience, or any mystical power to protect yourself? “The rich man enquired. The only answer the Joker had was ‘no’.

Nevertheless, he went about to get the treasure. First, he went hunting, and he killed a great deal of swallows, the dragon’s favourite food. He roasted them and then went to the hideout of the dragon.

You must understand that dragons are not the furious creatures we are often made to believe, Of course, they are huge and look fearsome, and they can spit fire and are invulnerable. But they also can listen, and if you bring a present to a dragon, like his favourite food, the dragon will be greatly happy. Yes, you even can become the dragon’s friend, and that is a very useful friendship.

As the Joker approached the cave, the dragon sensed someone coming, and he came out. He expected someone to come because of the gold, and he snorted annoyingly, exhaling hot fumes. „What do you want? “the dragon asked the Joker sternly. „I have brought you something to eat. You haven’t eaten in a long time!“ the Joker replied innocently. „That is right,“ admitted the dragon, and they sat down together to eat the swallows. „Now, don’t you want to go for a walk?” the Joker asked after the meal, „it is so long since you have had an opportunity to leave this cave and have a look around.“ „That is only too true,“ uttered the dragon, but then he considered: „but while I am away, won’t you take my gold?“ „Never!“ swore the Joker, „Aren’t we friends already? I have brought you food! I will take care over the treasure while you are away. You won’t be away long anyway, will you?“ This sounded very logical to the dragon, and off he went for a walk, not without a threat though: „If you steal the gold, I will kill you!“ „Don’t worry,“ the Joker replied, but as soon as the dragon was out of sight, he entered the cave and emptied it, and carried the treasure to the rich man.

The people of the village were of course very much astonished. How could this fragile, powerless Joker possibly have taken the treasure without killing the dragon? Then, a big fear overcame them: the dragon would certainly come and avenge this deed, and kill everybody.

However, the Joker was without concern. He went back to the cave to wait for the dragon. When the snake came back from its walk, and saw that its treasure was gone, it wanted to kill the Joker. „Wait a minute, dragon,“ the Joker exclaimed, „I have just taken a massive burden from you! What were you doing all your life? You were guarding a treasure that was not even yours. Have you ever had the possibility to go out? I have just set you free, you are a free dragon now! Besides, I only have brought the treasure back to its rightful owner. “

A dragon might be strong and powerful, but they are, with all due respect, also a bit dull in their mind. Dragons have a tendency of hitting first, and then thinking – if at all. But after the Joker’s speech, the dragon started considering the facts. Yes, he was indeed free, now he finally could do whatever he wanted! In the end, the dragon thanked the Joker very sincerely. The both became even very good friends. The Joker married the daughter of the rich man, and together they lived a happy life. And whenever the Joker was in danger, his friend, the dragon, would come and help him.

What you drink in the morning

2009-12-12T19:20:00.002+08:00

Croatia

2009-11-04T20:47:00.000+08:00

36

2009-10-07T20:37:00.001+08:00

Forbidden Land of Namibia

2009-09-28T16:48:00.000+08:00

I’m standing on a dusty road, in a windswept desert, and it feels like the edge of the earth. I’m about to cross the invisible border into the Sperrgebiet – or forbidden zone – an act which, for the last hundred years, would have got me arrested, beaten or shot.

A lanner falcon wheels above me in the silence of the African wilderness. Nothing else happens, so I carry on walking.

The Sperrgebiet, a 20,000-square-kilometre region of southwest Namibia, has been closed to visitors since 1908 to protect the region’s vital and lucrative diamond industry from smugglers. As of this month, however, the area has become the world’s newest and possibly most amazing national park.

The opening of the Sperrgebiet has been a long time coming. Owned jointly by diamond companies and the Namibian government, much of the zone has already been mined out but an element of paranoia – and bureaucratic lethargy – has nonetheless prevented tourists exploring this region, until now.

Why is the Sperrgebiet so tempting for adventurous travellers? There are many reasons: its ecology, history, culture and its extraordinary landscapes – as well as some truly exquisite seafood. Thanks to its forbidden status, the Sperrgebiet is one of the most unspoilt tracts of land on the wildest continent on earth. Even if it were just meadow, it would be a curiosity but this isn’t just your average park.

The Sperrgebeit is a very unusual environment. Much of it is a desert where the unique flora is watered by fog which rolls in from the Atlantic Ocean, caused by the icy Benguela current flowing from the Antarctic. I can feel a fierce wind even now, as I stand on glittering Diaz Point, 20km south of Lüderitz.

Lüderitz is where most people will begin their Sperrgebiet adventures. This former German colonial town has its own odd and desolate airport (occasionally overwhelmed by sand dunes) which you can fly to from Windhoek, the Namibian capital. I drove north from Cape Town: it took two days, through some of the starkest scenery on God’s earth, but the journey was well worth it.

Diaz Point is spectacularly austere. The promontory is named after the 15th-century Portuguese explorer, Bartholomew Diaz, who landed here on his famous journey south, when he became the first European to voyage around the Cape of Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean. When he first stepped ashore in 1487 he must have thought he had landed in a waterless, windswept, cruelly beautiful corner of hell.

But that unhappy wind, apparently so hostile and bitter, actually carries some noises more encouraging to man: I can also hear barks and calls of life. The islands offshore are home to pungent cities of jackass penguins; the beaches are draped with thousands of fur seals, which in turn support a bloodthirsty predator, the strandwolf – a ruffian local version of the brown hyena - that devours vulnerable seal pups whenever it gets the chance.

There are plenty of other faunal and floral oddities in the Forbidden Zone. Right in front of me, the beach is littered with the corpses of gelatinous scarlet aliens – or rather, that’s what they resemble. In fact, they are huge Namibian sea-nettles, one of the world’s biggest jellyfish. Similarly unique insects, plants and reptiles all thrive in this But that unhappy wind, apparently so hostile and bitter, actually carries some noises more encouraging to man: I can also hear barks and calls of life. The islands offshore are home to pungent cities of jackass penguins; the beaches are draped with thousands of fur seals, which in turn support a bloodthirsty predator, the strandwolf – a ruffian local version of the brown hyena - that devours vulnerable seal pups whenever it gets the chance.

There are plenty of other faunal and floral oddities in the Forbidden Zone. Right in front of me, the beach is littered with the corpses of gelatinous scarlet aliens – or rather, that’s what they resemble. In fact, they are huge Namibian sea-nettles, one of the world’s biggest jellyfish. Similarly unique insects, plants and reptiles all thrive in this harsh environment: misshapen cacti that feed off the sea-mist; trees so poisonous the smoke from the burning wood can kill you; beetles that stand on their legs to suck the lifegiving moisture from the air.

Then there are the real stars: the famous wild horses of the Namib – remarkable animals that wander between the shifting Barchan sand dunes, the peculiar quiver trees and the looming violet inselbergs, the ethereal and dreamy mountains that rise with eerie abruptness from the Sperrgebiet’s yellow dust.

As I travel inland, towards Aus, I spot my first horse, wild and lonesome and loping across the dirt road. Then I see more – dozens, then entire herds. Kicking and rolling in the sandy heat-haze, they look like the ghosts of ordinary horses, roaming free in the afterlife. It’s a strangely haunting sight.

No one is sure how these horses arrived here. Some think they were released by an eccentric German, Captain von Wolf back in 1907, from the thoroughbred stables that he kept at Duwisib, a castle built at enormous expense in the nearby Naukluft desert. Another suggestion is that they originally escaped from British Army vessels shipwrecked off the Skeleton Coast: the boats foundered, but the hardiest horses swam ashore.

The most likely idea is that they are the last remnants of the Schutztruppe – the German colonial army, that once ruled supreme over SudWest Afrika - until it was defeated by the South African forces of the British Empire in 1915. Whatever the horses’ provenance, they are slowly evolving, and adapting to the dry conditions.
Reluctantly, I turn away from the mesmerising sight of these wild animals and head south. Several hours of bumpy driving along dirt roads – many of them deliberately unmarked on maps, some of them almost lost to the drifting sands (you will need a vehicle with good ground clearance if not a 4x4) takes me into one of the world’s greatest wildernesses. This is Fish River Canyon, now a national park – as well as an impressive geological phenomenon – that is linked to the Richtersveld Park across the border in South Africa.

And wow. I’m fortunate enough to have done some remarkable drives in my time: across the deserts of the south-western US, through the jungles of Vietnam, around the rainforests of Madagascar. But none of them – not one – can hold a candle to the drive between Aus and the South African border, along the gorgeous green ribbon nourished by the Fish River. It’s a vivid and winding oasis of life amidst the utter desolation of one of the driest countries south of the equator.

The loneliness is part of the canyon’s hypnotic appeal: at one point I step out of my air-conditioned car, into the 40C heat (wherever you go in Namibia, take a hat, sunblock and many litres of water) and the silence stuns me. I can see African fish eagles soaring in the infinity of blue, desert baboons are squatting under a camel thorn tree just 10m away, but I’m possibly the only human being for 50km in any direction.

It’s slightly scary and rather humbling – and it gets better. The road ducks and twists through gorges, along wooded cliffs and, at one point, nearly tips into the mighty river. Then, suddenly, it climbs out of the canyon and out onto a desolate plateau, dotted with the occasional square of greenery indicating a vineyard (this lost corner of Namibia, it seems, even supports its own vineyards).

Yet if all of this makes the Forbidden Zone sound too daunting for a holiday, don’t worry. There are outposts of luxury – halfway down the Aus road to Richtersveld is the bizarre mining town of Rosh Pinah: I say bizarre because it so opulent in such an unlikely setting. It’s like a well-to-do Arizona resort town dumped in the African desert: the supermarkets are shaded with elegant palms, there are pubs and internet cafes and restaurants serving eland (antelope) steaks in pepper sauce. Even the garages stock bottles of fine South African pinotage.

Where does this prosperity come from? The many forbidding signs denoting the Namdeb Diamond Corporation give the game away. Diamond Zone 1, as Sperrgebiet is also known, may be opening up to tourists but gems are still big business here - two million carats of fine diamonds are mined in the region annually, and Rosh Pinah is one of Namdeb’s more significant towns.

The most important diamond city of all is Oranjemund, on the Atlantic coast, 90km away down a gravel road. But don’t bother taking this road unless you have a very good reason, plus a permit from the police and an invitation from a resident. Oranjemund is one of the most restricted cities in the free world. Only those in the diamond trade are allowed in. Namdeb take their security so seriously that even pigeons aren’t allowed – they are shot out of the sky just in case someone uses them to smuggle gems.

A better bet than being shot is to keep going until you reach the South African frontier, then loop around on the main road back to Aus. This road is tarmacked and the going fast so you can make the journey in a few hours. But do take some time to view the scenery: springbok run wild here, likewise oryx, zebra, ostrich and klipspringers - these cute little antelopes bound across the rocky hillsides with the grace of female Russian gymnasts.

Aus is a good base for travellers because it has one of the most alluring hotels in Namibia, the Klein-Aus Vista. The chalets near the hotel restaurant are clean and comfy, and the food in the restaurant is excellent (game meats like kudu come highly recommended) but what makes Klein aus Vista so amazing are the self-catering lodges high up in the hills, about 10 minutes’ drive from reception.

The Afrikaans owners of Klein-Aus Vista have tried to make these luxury huts as inconspicuous as possible: lodges like the Eagle’s Nest are literally built out of boulders, with rocks emerging in the sitting room. Each comes equipped with a braai area, where you can barbecue your own boerwurst if you don’t fancy the drive down to the restaurant. The kitchens sparkle with equipment, there are fine wines in the cupboard, and the views across the veld and the desert, where the Succulent Karoo meets the dunes of the Namib-Naukluft, are incomparable.

The nights are, if anything, even more magnificent. The total lack of pollution makes these skies some of the clearest on Earth: you can see the stars as my African ancestors saw them. And when the sun eventually wakes over the Karas Mountains, you may spot mongoose or hyrax sipping from the water dishes placed on the terrace of every lodge. I was actually woken by a large desert hare and a bat-eared fox, right outside my window, squabbling over the remains of my al fresco supper.

The last leg of any Sperrgebiet journey will probably take you back to Lüderitz, and to the airport out in the wilderness. But it’s well worth lingering in Lüderitz itself. This seaport, with its lofty Lutheran churches and gingerbread Bavarian houses standing stark against the dust of the encroaching desert, has a surreal charm, surrounded as it is by intriguing ghost towns, slowly drowning under lemon-yellow dunes.

The nightlife here isn’t up to much – though diamond miners do get boisterous in downtown bars such as Rumours or Kapps – so the best thing to do in the evening is to enjoy the fabulous seafood in the town’s finest hotel, the Swiss-run Lüderitz Nest, with its neat little swimming pool sheltered from the winds.

The hake and the kingclip are always good, the rock lobster is excellent but my favourite was oysters. I had a dozen on the half-shell every night, fresh from the cold sea right outside. So accommodating was the Lüderitz Nest after the rigours of travelling around Sperrgebiet that I came for three days and ended up staying for 10.

On the last day, I drove once more across the yellow sands to the dunes where the wild horses roam. I sat there for several hours, staring at these strange feral creatures wandering gaunt and alone through the endless, hazy deserts like shades of a long-lost cavalry. It occurred to me that they were a suitably poetic symbol for one of the world’s strangest and possibly most remarkable of national parks.

How Our Bodies Age (And What You Can Do About It)

2009-09-04T20:32:00.000+08:00

Mount Sinai

2009-08-28T17:22:00.000+08:00

The Egyptian tourism machine swallows 12 million visitors a year and has turned Mount Sinai, one of the world’s most spiritual places, into one of the world’s biggest tourist traps. Each year about 230,000 people sign up for the usual tour; this involves waking in the middle of the night, getting into a bus in Dahab or Sharm el Sheikh, and climbing Egypt’s highest peak – where Moses is believed to have received the Ten Commandments – to share the sunrise with a crowd of tourists in inappropriate clothes and footwear clutching plastic water bottles, guidebooks and even howling babies. Back at the foot of the holy mountain, you cram into St Catherine’s Monastery, glance at its collection of icons, and wait for people to get out of the way so you can take an ironic picture of the “No Smoking” sign next to a giant desert bramble purported to be the original burning bush.

When I go on holiday a crowd is the last thing I want to see. And so, when the monastery closes at noon, and the convoy of vehicles speeding to the Red Sea coast and its world of sunbathing, snorkelling and discos clears out, I stay behind in the town of St Catherine, population 800. It turns out that it’s now possible to disappear into the mountains for days with a local Bedouin guide and connect with the Sinai’s spectacular landscape, ancient history, and indigenous culture.

My first stop is the office of Sheikh Sina, a European Union-funded tour company founded in 2006 to help the southern Sinai’s Bedouin tribes organise and professionalise the wilderness-guiding industry which dates back to the era of camel caravans. It later served early European explorers and got another kick-start when Israel occupied Sinai and brought with it settlers and tourists after the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Regarded by many Egyptians from the Nile Valley as primitives who collaborated with Israel, the 20,000 strong Bedouin population has been marginalised from the beach resort industry that developed after Egypt regained full possession of the Sinai in 1982 and which now employs 400,000 people.

“Trekking has existed for a long time, but we’re trying to introduce a business model that has a future,” says Dave Lucas, Sheikh Sina’s 31-year old British operations manager. In addition to organising treks lasting for as long as one month, Sheikh Sina provides language education and emergency medical training to guides; is establishing mountain rescue protocols using GPS and aircraft from Sharm el Sheikh; and is teaching locals how to use computers for reservations and marketing. Sheikh Sina’s mandate – part of a US$83 million (Dh305m) EU initiative to improve infrastructure and socio-economic development in the Southern Sinai – is to hand the trekking operation over to Bedouin guides and managers by next year. It is also committed to expanding hiking programmes outside of the 4,350-square-kilometre St Catherine’s Protectorate, which is dominated by the Jabaliya tribe, and into the territories of the Tarabin, Muzeina, Howeitat, Tiyaha, Garasha, Sawalha and Awlad Said peoples. Given tribal politics, Egyptian government paranoia about security, opium growers, and the series of Red Sea Coast hotel bombings between 2004 and 2006, which north Sinai Bedouin were suspected of having carried out, that’s a hard plan to live up to.

Already, however, Sheikh Sina is attracting clients including Cairo residents on weekend trips like me, hard-core rock climbers, nature lovers who also want easy access to sun and fun in Egypt’s beach towns, and culture buffs who want to understand why Unesco designated St Catherine’s a World Heritage site in 2002.

“Oman and even Jordan have become Land Cruiser cultures whose people just want to drive you around in air-conditioned vehicles and entertain you between meals,” says Geoff Hornsby, 50, a Fellow of Britain’s Royal Geographical Society who has surveyed rock-climbing routes in Oman for that country’s tourism board. In 2007, Hornby hired Sheikh Sina to organise a 275km trek between Taba and El Tor that passed through Tarabin, Muzeina, Jabaliya and Awlad Said traditional lands. He saw tarmac just twice and changed guides and camels as he crossed each tribal boundary. “The Sinai is not an unexplored environment but it’s still one where you can experience the culture on an honest and basic level,” he tells me later, by phone from his home in Derbyshire, England, “It’s the rare place in the Middle East where you will find working camels and people still capable of walking many miles per day.”

Lucas introduces me to my guide for the next three days, Ragab Gabalah, 33, a former cameleer who used to spend all his mornings at the monastery trolling for tourists willing to pay $15 (Dh56) for an uphill camel ride. “On Gebel Mousa, it’s always up, down, hurry, hurry, hurry,” he sighs, using the Bedouin name for Mount Sinai. “I prefer trekking. You walk, sleep, eat with people and get to know them. Inshallah, Sheikh Sina will succeed. Many families will have work, and people who come from such a long way away to visit the Sinai can see the best part.”

A member of the Jabaliya tribe – which is made up of descendants of soldiers and farmers sent in the sixth century by the Byzantine emperor Justinian to support the monks of St Catherine – Ragab was born in a cave on the mountain where his pregnant mother tended goats. Having lived as a nomad until he was eight, he now lives in a house in St Catherine’s with his wife and two young children. Yet he remembers the old ways and promises to show me Bedouin “wedding places”, rock pools and a network of walled gardens hidden from the outside world. Carrying daypacks (a camel with more baggage and a guide will rendezvous with us later), we walk out of town up a steep, zigzagging path between pink granite cliffs, wind-sculpted sandstone and huge boulders. At the top of the first hill, Ragab shows me a mound of large stones over a pit – an old leopard trap. The big cats haven’t been seen in the Sinai since the 1980s, but ibex, hyenas, foxes and wolves – biological relics from the geological era when the Sinai Peninsula was joined to Africa and Asia – remain.

Our trail was laid in the 19th century by the soldiers of the tubercular Sultan Abbas Pasha, who ordered a palace built on the fresh-aired summit of Mount Tinya, but who died in 1854 (some say of poison) before it was completed. In the wadi beneath the palace ruins we pass the first in a network of gardens each protected from flash floods and grazing animals by high stone walls, sometimes surrounding a single, precious tree. From an aeroplane or from the motorway to Sharm el Sheikh, these mountains look barren, but suddenly there are almond trees pink with blooms, white-barked wild figs, carob, peach, pear, apple and quince. Lines of black plastic piping link the deep wells and cisterns from which the Jabaliya used to draw water with a shadoof and goatskins.

The Jabaliya or mountain people, Ragab tells me, descend from 200 families sent from Alexandria and Macedonia by the Byzantine emperor Justinian to protect, grow food for and provide manual labour for the monks of St Catherine; the monks in turn had followed the early Christian ascetics who moved into caves to escape persecution when Rome was still pagan. It was this group who, according to Ragab, began identifying the highest peaks with Old Testament stories about Moses’ flight from Egypt. The Jabaliya converted to Islam in the seventh century, a fact that did not lead to animosity with the monks, whose working relationship with the Jabaliya continues to this day. Indeed, the survival of the world’s oldest continuously functioning monastery, which was never looted, owes much to a gesture of tolerance from the Prophet Mohammed, who issued a letter of protection (signed with his handprint) that has been respected by subsequent invaders, including the Ottomans, Napoleon, the British and the Israelis.

The Jabaliya eventually intermarried with other tribes who fled Mameluke political strife in Cairo in the 15th to 17th centuries. The Egyptian government policy of settling Bedouin in towns has broken the old seasonal way of life, in which Jabaliya families lived in goat hair tents and moved with their herds from November to May, and spent the summer in the cooler mountains harvesting grain and fruit, which they traded for dried fish produced by Bedouin tribes on the Red Sea coast. Today, just 25 of the 400 or so known gardens are regularly maintained. Sheikh Sina staff, who are building two eco-lodges, hope an eventual network of eco-lodges will provide shelter for a hikers and an incentive for Jabaliya families to return to the 100 or so gardens whose fruit trees are still viable despite the decades of neglect.

Already, gardens provide a de facto infrastructure for hikers, offering springs and wells with clean drinking water and places to stop for lunch or spend the night. Ragab and I break for lunch in Wadi Zawatiin, where single-room stone houses are built against the boulders, and the olive trees are over 700 years old. Rubbish from last summer’s growing season is strewn in the deepest part of the wadi – abandoned rubber sandals, empty glass bottles and rags.

But when Ragab uses a fire-blackened sardine can to boil tea, and an old glass bottle to roll out a round loaf of bread that he bakes in the ashes of a fire, I see that what I consider rubbish is in fact a recyclable resource. “When you don’t have money to buy things, you use what you have, or invent new uses,” Ragab explains.

At the valley neck, we climb a col connecting Zawatiin to Wadi Itlah, where we’ll spend the night. It’s late January, and the cool daytime air is perfect for long-distance walking, but summer is also a popular time for treks; the col conceals a series of clear pools where hikers can take a refreshing dip. Sinai granite is among the oldest rock on earth; volcanic activity, which led to the separation of the Asian and Africa continents, left seams of porous black basalt, dykes that became catchments for winter rain and snowfall. Though the Sinai has been in a drought for the last six years, and many old wells have run dry, it’s possible to find water if you dig deep enough. We also see places, marked by greenery, where water springs like magic, dripping from bare rock.

Our stop for the night is a garden belonging to Ahmed Mansour, one of the last traditional doctors in the Sinai, who learnt to identify 270 medicinal plants from his grandfather. With EU help, he has installed a composting toilet for hikers and launched a gardening school to pass on his knowledge to local children. Not everything is going smoothly: the funding covered just five students, and Mansour has had to dig deep into his own pockets to support others, desperate for future employment, who arrived thanks to word of mouth. Mohammed, an 18-year old cameleer from St Catherine, arrives with our sleeping bags and firewood; and for dinner, Ragab makes a stew of chicken, tomatoes and rice seasoned with wild thyme plucked along the trail. We drink spring water boiled with crushed almonds and carob. It’s a sweet, milky concoction thought to be good for memory and eyesight. Night falls, and we turn in for bed, laying our sleeping bags on top of woven rugs and under thick blankets around the fire pit embers. I look up at the moonless night sky and see more stars than I have seen anywhere in my life, thanks to the absence of electric city lights and, perhaps, that Bedouin potion.

The next day’s walk takes us down the romantically named (or not) Naqb al Hoda or Pass of the Winds, part of the old caravan route linking Cairo, St Catherine’s and Mecca. In the shade of a giant boulder shaped like a crocodile’s gaping mouth, we meet a woman embroidering a red-beaded pouch for Fansina, a Bedouin-run women’s crafts collective in St Catherine. “It gives me something to do and a way to make money for my family,” Hoda Ibrahim tells us.

In the past women embroidered their own dresses and veils in bright colours and patterns, a product of tradition, nature, observation, and imagination, a visual code that revealed the wearer’s family, marital status and even, number of children. Hoda is wearing the plain black hijab and abaya of Cairo; she lives just down the valley in the village of Abu Sila. Above us, her three small girls wear bright red smocks and tracksuit bottoms as they tend three black goats and one white sheep. All stand out like jewels against the rock.

The pass descends and opens up onto a broad plain that leads us to Wadi Gharaba, named after its carob trees, and the six-room Al Karm eco-lodge, built in 2002 by a French-Egyptian architect inspired by round Neolithic stone structures called nawami that are scattered across the Sinai. There is an elegant solar-heated stone shower, but no electricity. The walls of my room have windows to let in daylight, candles set in niches, and while the only furniture consists of a wooden table, a thin mattress, mosquito netting pillows and heavy blankets, the place manages to achieve a less-is-more style more trendy than many so-called minimalist boutique hotels costing hundreds of dollars per night.

A room here costs less than US$7, (Dh26) per night. Even more unbelievably, I am the only guest and to make me feel more at home, the lodge owner and host, Gamil Attiya Hossein, who has gone into partnership with Sheikh Sina to attract more customers, invites Ragab and I to visit him in his house, only a 20-minute walk away. Gamil’s wife Firzena is sitting on the floor, brewing goats milk tea on a charcoal brazier for their five children, who are fighting over the remote control of the satellite TV that tourism has paid for. Made from breeze block, theirs is the largest house in the small village of Sheikh Awad, and soon cousins, sisters and uncles drop in to chat, sitting around the glowing brazier. “Today we no longer live in tents,” the 50-year old Gamil says. “But we still have a room called the maga’ad for people to sit around and talk.”

The Egyptian government supplies the village with six hours of electricity every day and tankers bring drinking water – adequate for basic family needs but far from enough for meaningful economic development. I ask Gamil about another EU project that will soon pipe Nile water from Ismaliya to St Catherine where, local rumour has it, a luxury hotel company wants to build a hotel in the plain below Mount Sinai. How will a regular water supply affect the old garden culture? “Just because we have new things, or more things, doesn’t make life easier,” he answers. “The carob trees near Al Karm have survived all this time because we Bedouin know how to conserve water. Our world has changed and is still changing. I tell my children and my guests that people who forget the past are lost.”

Back in Cairo, I feel lost myself, breathing in the polluted air, battling car traffic, grabbing money from a cashpoint. I cling to my memory of the mountain people and hope more outsiders will visit them.

Cooking Eggs

2009-08-04T20:29:00.000+08:00

Cooking hard boiled eggs can be a hassle because you have to kor hui (jaga api) or kor chui (jaga air). this method of cooking the eggs whereby you don't have to worry whether they are over-cooked or under-cooked.

1) Place two pieces of tissue paper inside the rice cooker and sprinkle them with water.
2) Put in the eggs.

3) Close the lid and press "Cook" button.

4) Wait till the button jumps up. When it does, TURN OFF THE ELECTRICITY POWER. Do not leave them too long inside the rice cooker after cooked ...only do so if you prefer a harder egg yolk.

5) The eggs are ready.

The speed is faster than using ordinary boiling method. This is because the water sprinkled on the tissue will turn into steam and compressed inside the rice cooker to cook the eggs. You can peel the egg shells off very easily. The egg yolks will turn out just nice, not too dry. And the best part is -you don't have to do any washing nor cleaning at all.

Subject: Catholic Schools

2009-07-24T20:20:00.000+08:00

Little Zachary was doing quite badly in math. His parents had tried everything; Tutors, mentors, flash cards, Special Learning Centers. In short, everything they could think of to help his math.

Finally, in a last ditch effort, they took Zachary down and enrolled him in the local Catholic school. After the first day, little Zachary came home with a very serious look on his face. He didn't even kiss his mother Hello. Instead, he went straight to his room and started studying.

Books and papers were spread out all over the room and little Zachary was hard at work. His mother was amazed. She called him down to dinner. To her shock, the minute he was done, he marched back to his room without a word, and in no time, he was back hitting the books as hard as before. This went on for some time, day after day, while the mother tried to understand what made all the difference.

Finally, little Zachary brought home his report card. He quietly laid it on the table, went up to his room and hit the books. With great trepidation, his Mom looked at it and to her great surprise Little Zachary got an 'A' in math. She could no longer hold her curiosity. She went to his room and said, 'Son, what was it? Was it the nuns?' Little Zachary looked at her and shook his head, no. 'Well, then,' she replied, 'was it the books, the discipline, the structure, the uniforms?'

Little Zachary looked at her and said, 'On the first day of school when I saw that guy nailed to the plus sign, I knew they weren't fooling around.'

UMS for Aliens

2009-07-10T19:48:00.000+08:00

Sabahan has to beg The Penisularan for Sabah Own University, so that our children can have better education without heavy financial burden. This dream came true on 24 November 1994 when Parliament approve the setup of University Malaysia Sabah (UMS).

It started with three schools; Sekolah Sains dan Teknologi, Sekolah Perniagaan dan Teknologi dan Sekolah Sains Sosial. The 999 hectors UMS complex located in Teluk Sepanggar officially open on 19 September 2000 by Dr. Mahathir. There are now 570 academic staffs and more than 12,350 students from all over Malaysia as well as foreigners.

A reliable source told me that there are more than 250 Aliens students in UMS. Aliens now can penetrate not only our town but also the higher education systems. If we don’t eliminate them, they will take over Sabah like virus.

A ‘quiet’ moment

2009-06-28T17:29:00.000+08:00

Time stands still for My lovely wife Gracey as she meditates.

I believe I can fly

2009-06-21T17:30:00.000+08:00

Man has invented the plane, conquered the sky, reached the moon but has still not given up on his desire to fly like a bird – with the birds.

Corn-crazy

2009-06-14T17:32:00.000+08:00

Of all the displays at Kundasan, I found this the most eye-catching.

Spider

2009-05-27T00:19:00.000+08:00

This spider is now in Malaysia grounds & it's poisonous........

Beware!!!!!........

When you see this spider - kill it immediately with some thing, not bare hand

Have any one of you heard about or seen this spider?

Happening in Malaysia!!!!!

Take note it's around the house.....and anywhere!!!

Please note this poisonous

It's commonly found in Brazil, but somehow it made its way here.

An English man was recently bitten by it but unfortunately, they freed the
Spider not knowing that it's poisonous!

Look before you sit

2009-05-13T00:26:00.001+08:00

Broaden your horizons!

2009-05-01T18:08:00.000+08:00

Now that President GW Bush is no longer in power, it’s refreshing to discover a more balanced account of the man’s record in office which has been very much decried, one-sided and overall negative thanks to the influence of certain media. To all the happy ‘shoe-throwers’ out there, here is some information for you to digest that will certainly make you realize that you do not have the monopole of thought when it comes to President Bush. Learn and realize that Bush does not only equal ‘war in Iraq’ - it’s too easy to choose the arguments that favour your thinking and ignore the rest just to make a point. So here are some facts:

1) President Bush has designated nearly 520,000 square kilometres of the Pacific Ocean as conservation areas, making him the leader who has protected more of the world’s ocean than any other. The protected areas include pristine coral reefs, rare marine species and the Mariana Trench, the deepest place on Earth’ (source: Geographical March 2009 issue, the official magazine of The Royal Geographical Society, UK).

2) He Pumped $18bn into fighting HIV/Aids, much of it in Africa (which of the world leaders have pledged or done more?).

3) He backed cancelling $34bn worth of debt for 27 African states.

4) He launched an initiative that has halved Malaria in 15 African countries. (Source: BBC World News online, 16th January 2009) According to Bob Geldof (the infamous rock singer turned aid activist) who is hardly a warmonger, President Bush ‘saved millions of lives’. All the above can be verified and is on records.

Some perspectives that will, I hope, stir some thoughts in people’s minds.

Broaden your horizons!

畢業照片

2009-04-25T00:07:00.001+08:00

畢業照!!! 什麼.....差這麼多哦!!

▼中國畢業生▼ China

▼台灣畢業生▼ Taiwan

▼美國畢業生▼ U.S.A.

▼日本畢業生▼ Japan 現在去日本求學還來得及嗎？

Beware of Stungun a.k.a. torchlight

2009-04-13T00:31:00.000+08:00

I just thought to let know what my doctor told me recently. I don't think she was lying and neither am I, so please pass this on to your friends. Her clinic is in SS2 and you know how congested that place is.

One morning a few months ago in broad daylight, a girl was getting into her car when a few men approached her with what looked like torchlight. Quite harmless looking. They pressed the "torchlight" into her back and immediately she went limp and very pale. So she wouldn't be able to fight back, they slashed her thigh with a parang and sped away in her car.

There were many people around and they quickly took her to the nearest clinic which was my doctor's clinic. There were two doctors at that time and they managed to stitch up her wound but the girl remained pulse-less and still pale as paper. No pulse, no BP (blood pressure). Just like dead.

My doctors were confused as to how one wound on the thigh made the girl almost like dead? They managed to revive her and save her life.

After some checking around, the doctors found out what actually happened was that the girl was made unconscious not by a torchlight but actually a high voltage weapon. I forgot how many watts she mentioned. 1000? Anyway, it was high enough to kill a person by electrocution.

It seems this weapon is from China. It's not rampant yet in Malaysia, but with this thing, a person can rob, rape, kill, kidnap, and practically do anything to you. My doctor said that if the girl weren't taken to the clinic immediately she would have died because there was no pulse on her.

So please just beware of your surroundings, if anybody is lurking around with a torchlight-thingy and approaches you, just scream or run away. Better to be embarrassed than ZAPPED and fried, right? Take care.

Credit Crunch

2009-04-01T21:03:00.000+08:00

The newspapers are still full of “the credit crunch” and how it all happened!!! Simple really, too much credit to the wrong people. But then bottom line paper profit margins on the books were all the banking hierarchy were interested in so they could claim their extortionate salaries, bonuses and pensions. And now its all gone wrong and the banking system and the world economy has gone west, what do these same bankers do they come cap in hand to the government or their shareholders for handouts to bail them out of the mess they created.

Governments were panicked into action to give these incompetent custodians of our money and bailed them out with billions of public money ie. Our money again. But what do these bankers do with this manna from heaven, yes you guessed it, patted themselves on the back and awarded themselves bonuses for being found wanting when it most mattered.

If I remember correctly Nick Leeson went to jail for bringing down Barings some years ago. My question is why aren’t the current crop of no hopers suffering the same fate, why aren’t they being asked to repay their unmerited rewards and put there hands in their own pockets to repay these losses.

If it wasn’t so serious it would be ironic.

Chocolates You'll Never See in Malaysia..

2009-03-22T15:43:00.000+08:00

Najib Razak, You think Sabahan are beggars?

2009-03-15T02:37:00.000+08:00

2%

Only two per cent allocation for the Borneo States, out of the total RM60 billion stimulus package announced by Najib is an insult. He thinks Sabahan is beggar?

Since Sabah and Sarawak are less developed and are among the poorest States, the State Government should expect more, not less from the stimulus package.

Since Najib not Sabahan so his priorities lies elsewhere but of boot licking Sabahan Politician lead by Musa Aman welcome the news and said Federal Government understand our needs when clearly it showed otherwise. This clearly shows Musa Aman is only interested in his own self not Sabah.

Woww... and Musa advised the state leaders not to be upset as we can always ask for more. The figure clearly shows just how much value the federal are putting on the two states that are the richest in terms of natural resources but is listed as the poorest in terms of development.

DI MANA MARUAH KAMU???

Musa The Boot Licker don't care much about Sabah and Sabahan, what he cares about is how to make himself richer and reap the profit from the suffering of his own rakyat.

I hate seeing him in the papers as what I see is not a human, but a S**** in disguise.

Isn't RM 1 billion of this the money that was promised to Sabah after the election, to make sure that none of the Sabahan politicians crossed-over?

So Sabah may in fact not be getting any new money in the stimulus package - and maybe getting less than what it was previously promised.

And out of the 2% how much actually goes to the rakyat? No doubt the money will be filtered.

Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz ?

2009-03-14T17:21:00.004+08:00

Not everyone has the BALLS to admit it like Chua Soi Lek... LOL!

REAR COMES THE GIRL: Hot Rosie

2009-03-12T03:42:00.000+08:00

LIFE’S not a bed of Rosie’s . . . even when the Rosie in question is as sexy as this.

See more sexy photos of Rosie Huntington-Whiteley

Ravishing Rosie Huntington-Whiteley has knickered Kate Moss’s place as the face (and awesome body) of risqué lingerie firm Agent Provocateur.

And, just like the traditional English flowwer, she’s prickly and hard to handle in this raunchy ad shoot for a range called Love.

Rosie, 21—who dates Tyrone Wood, son of Rolling Stone Ronnie—steps confidently out of her clothes and into the stilettoes of supermodel Kate, who was recently pictured displaying a wrinkled rear.

She smoulders in a super-short coat over sexy stockings and suspenders in a Provocateur’s hottest ever Valentine’s Day campaign.

Rosie’s filmed a special XXX-rated video in the outfit called Love Me Tender . . . Or Else! In it, she takes kinky revenge on her fella when he works late on Feb 14.

The Devon-born model turns up at his office in her undies and performs a lap dance before walloping her man.

The film can be seen in full on www.agentprovocateur.com

Amazing Saudi Arabia aka Full Islamic Law!

2009-03-10T11:53:00.002+08:00

The sentencing of a 75-year-old widow to 40 lashes and four months in prison for mingling with two young men who were reportedly bringing her bread has sparked new criticism of Saudi Arabia's ultraconservative religious police and judiciary.

Khamisa Sawadi, who is Syrian but was married to a Saudi, was convicted and sentenced last week for meeting with men who were not her immediate relatives. The two men, including one who was Sawadi's late husband's nephew, were also found guilty and sentenced to prison terms and lashes.

The woman's lawyer, Abdel Rahman al-Lahem, said he plans to appeal the verdict, which also demands that Sawadi be deported after serving her prison term. He declined to provide more details and said his client, who is not serving her sentence yet, was not speaking with the media.

Amazingly ignorance!

Forget about camry, get a Mercedes Benz

2009-03-09T18:13:00.001+08:00

Perakian was shock, shocked with the sudden luxury YAB Hee Pit Foong had by showing off her new Mercedes Benz.

Most think that benz is bought by using the money Hee got from selling of her people to Najib. Some ADUN admitted that they were offer up to 20million ringgit.

Although Najib did deny offering any money to corrupted frogs but he has yet to swear it on the Quran like what he did in Altantuya case.

The owner of the shoplot where Hee setup her service center decided to kick her out. The owner known as Mani asked Hee to take out all her stuffs as he doesn’t want to rent her the place anymore.

Mani action was accordance with people dissatisfaction with Hee action.

Dr Mohd Norzi Ghazali

2009-03-05T22:29:00.000+08:00

I don’t know for what reason I never fully trust a doctor and now Dr Mohd Norzi Ghazali proof me right. Director of Serdang Hospital, Dr Mohd Norzi lied with no remorse.

He said a mob of about 50 people had barged in and tampered with Kugan’s body before any post-mortem was carried out by the hospital's forensics pathologist.

Not sure if he is stupid or he thinks the public is stupid.

Just a day before the MOB attacked the hospital, the hospital release a report also stating that the 22-year-old had died of pulmonary oedema or fluid in the lungs. It also stated that there were no fractures on his body or damage to his vital organs.

According to the Dr Liar again, the post-mortem, was supposed to take place at 8am the next day as police personnel had to be present during the procedure.

But now the hospital come out with another report on the incident at the morgue by the hospital authorities stated that Kugan's fully-clothed body was in a body bag, which had been torn open by the mob.The medical officers also reported they were shocked to see a pool of Kugan's blood on the floor of the mortuary.

The most stupid things about this new report indicated that wounds on the body could have been inflicted after his death. I have watch enough CSI to know that wound inflicted before and after death can be differentiate easily.

The second post-mortem conducted by University Malaya Medical Centre's pathologist Dr Prashant N. Samberkar revealed that his death was due to kidney failure caused by muscle injury that might be attributed to physical, chemical or biological factors.

Dr Mohd Norzi Ghazali is stupid, how he become doctor is a mystery but he is the police lap dog is no mystery.

Allah is not God!

2009-03-05T19:10:00.001+08:00

Who want to lodge Police Reports over the use of God in Muslim in the context of the English language?

I believe a lot of Police Reports are lodged over the ongoing diatribe over the word "Allah".

I don't know who are right and who are wrong.

Maybe the Police and the relevant authorities can help in the problem as prolonged over a few decades in Malaysia. There may not have this problem elsewhere.

It may be a blessing for the Christians to resolve this issue but it is not really worth it.

God in the Bible says “I am who I am" and repeated. That is the God in the Bible.

What does Allah say about himself in the Koran? Does Allah say that? It does not matter who is wrong or who is right, when God is concerned.

The followers must be concerned over this HOT issue.

I can be wrong as well but with very good intention especially for the Christians.

I know human being can never be totally right as far as God is concerned. We may be right sometimes.

If there is no God and yet Muslims would use the word "God" for "Allah" in the English communication.

Muslims should always stick to Allah lest Muslims and others are confused.

Lodge Police Report over the wrong word for Allah?

So who are wrong and who are right?

God is the POSITIVE character - I am who I am. Who holds the negative character?

Have we drawn closer to God now? I personally prefer that we stick with the God we know.

So Allah is not God?

FOREIGNERS MAIN CONTRIBUTOR TO CRIME IN SABAH, SAYS SYED HAMID

2009-03-03T21:54:00.002+08:00

3rd March, 2009
http://www.newsabahtimes.com.my/nstweb/fullstory/26460

KOTA KINABALU: Once again, foreigners have been identified as the main contributors to the increase in crime rate in Sabah last year, where they were accounted for 2,497 cases in the crime index for 2008 – 623 cases more than the previous year of 1,874 cases.

Disclosing this was the Home Minister Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar while replying to a question from the Tawau MP, Datuk Chua Soon Bui who inquired about the factors contributing to the increase of Sabah crime rate last year which was 15 per cent more than 2007 and the preventive measures taken to curb the 17 per cent increase of rape crimes, especially those involving under-aged girls.

Apart from that, the Home Minister also noted that the shifting of the rural population to urban areas in search of jobs had also brought various social problems and crimes to certain areas of high economic activities.

Towns like Kota Kinabalu, Penampang, Tawau and Sandakan contributed a large percentage in the crime indices in 2007 and 2008.

For example, the crime index for Kota Kinabalu in 2008 contributed as much as 39.83 per cent of the total crime index in Sabah, he noted.

The global economic recession coupled with the hike in fuel prices in 2008, which resulted in prices of commodities and cost of living to escalate, especially in urban areas too had compelled some people to commit crimes.

Other than that, the price hike for steel and oil palm fruits in early 2008 compared to 2007 also played a role in contributing to the increase of crimes in Sabah.

This factor has indirectly caused the increase in thefts of scrap metals and oil palm fruits in plantations.

Despite all these, from 1 January 2009 till 11 February 2009, Sabah police had succeeded in reducing crimes as much as 20.61 per cent compared to the same period in 2008.

In 2008, the total number of rape cases reported in the whole country was 217 compared to 204 in 2007.

This shows an increase of 13 cases or 6.3 per cent compared to the previous year.

Among the contributing factors were the perpetrators were drunk, victim and suspect were fond of each other, victim trusted the suspect, victim threatened by suspect, and victim was alone in secluded area.

The Home Minister among others urged the parents to closely monitor the movements or activities of their children as measures that could be taken to prevent rape crimes.

Besides this, school authorities too should organise moral counselling classes especially for those who are identified to be the problematic students.

17% increase of rape crimes, especially those involving under-aged girls ! ! !
That is the doomed society of our own doing.

Foreigners are given Malaysian Identity cards and where got foreigners in Sabah when 1-2 millions illegal had been given MyKad in Sabah and 5 million illegal had been given MYKad in Malaysia.

Let our own people suffer more as we remain silent.

In someway Sabah is typical of what the rest of the world is going to be facing in the future - Sabah has too many PTIs/Refugees/Stateless people. With increasing human populations, decreasing resources and the potential effects of climate change - the number of displaced people is going to increase and all countries will be affected.
Project IC is unique to Malaysia and a problem of its own making.

UMN0 Three Stooges Pondan Debate

2009-03-01T19:08:00.000+08:00

The so called “debate” between three candidates for UMNO youth Boss looks more like “Interview” than any form of debate. Any three years old can debate better than them.

1. Mukriz the son of Mahathir
2. Khairy the son in-law of Badawi
3. Khir the son of bitch

Which one of these three stooges would you prefer as the Mat Rempit UMNO Youth boss?

The ONE who will replace Hisapmudin-Kerismudin to yell hysterically, kiss the Knife and warned others not to mess with their species.

Mukriz has been busy stopping people from eating Mc Donald.

Khairy has been very quite lately, maybe on Rempit rounds snatching handbags.

Khir has been stroking himself with Eli-Wong photos.

None of them seems to come up with a plan for the future!

RM500 to scale Mount Kinabalu?

2009-02-26T16:58:00.000+08:00

Sabah Park director, Paul Basintal, says that the price of accommodation at Kinabalu Park, including on the mountain, is mentioned under Clause 30 of the Agreement between Sabah Parks and Kinabalu Nature Resort Sdn Bhd (now known as Sutera Sanctuary Lodges).

“The company requires approval from the Board of Trustees of the Sabah Parks if it plans to increase the rates,” Basintal says in an e-mail.

The Board includes officials from Sabah’s Tourism Development, Environment, Science and Technology, Finance and Natural Resources Ministries.

“In 2008, the company introduced the mountain climbing package (lodging inclusive of five meals), thus leading to the increase of price.”

Sutera Sanctuary Lodges (SSL) pays an annual rest house fee of RM986, 000 to Sabah Parks in exchange for the handling of lodge operations. However, SSL doesn’t contribute to any conservation or research projects for Kinabalu.From this reply, it looks like the changes are here to stay and climbing Kinabalu is a take-it-or-leave-it option. Either you save up and plan your climb way in advance or drop all your plans and go elsewhere.

I was really surprised by the sudden rise in mount kinabalu climbing price. They should not charge Sabahan that expensive; after all it belongs to us Sabahan too.

The park used to belong to Sabah government but now has been privatised and sold to Singaporean. Sabah leaders are all useless bunch of bloodsuckers; they sold everything that belong to Sabahan, these bunch of bloodsuckers won’t hesitate to sell their own mother.

If this trend continues, most climbers will be foreigner and locals will only know Mt.K by its name only.

Not only kinabalu park prices are going up, poring hostel too. A bungalow rental used to be RM280 a night but now RM400, hostel used to be RM15 a night but now RM35.

The most active person fighting this price hike is Dr Ruhaizad Daud (a Doc who practices in Kota Kinabalu).

The reason given by SSL for the 300% price hike is because of high operation cost and this bastard SSL has a 30 years contract to run this place since 2003.

http://mount-kinabalu-borneo.com/blog/t ... ement.html

A trip up Mount Kinabalu cost RM500 inclusive of dorm, meals, climbing fees, guide and porter. That doesn’t include transportation to Kundasang and back yet.

Mount Kinabalu no longer belongs to the ordinary folks of Sabah; it belongs to foreigners and rich people. Most Sabahan can only admire it from far without being able to scale their own backyard because Sabah Government has sold them out!

I was thinking of scaling the mountain by myself without guide, no potter, no insurances; bring my own food and sleeping bag. Anyway I know these routes like the back of my hand, I have scale it more than 20times. I wonder will they send me to jail.

"People take different roads seeking fulfilments and happiness. Just because they’re not on your road doesn’t mean they’ve gotten lost.”

Beauty & The Handicapped

2009-02-23T20:57:00.003+08:00

HONG KONG - FORMER TVB star Gigi Lai has confirmed her marriage to Hong Kong businessman Patrick Ma.

Gigi Lai, 38, and disabled millionaire Patrick Ma, 52, were reportedly planning a wedding scheduled for February 22 in Sydney, Australia. But the low-key couple canceled the ceremony after paparazzi discovered their plan. They registered their marriage and had a simple celebration before the Chinese New Year.

Media reports say Hong Kong actress Gigi Lai Chi will marry a 52-year-old millionaire next month, following her abrupt retreat from showbiz in late October.

A report published on Sina.com Thursday said Lai Chi, 37, is planning a wedding to Ma Tingqiang, a disabled businessman, in Australia on February 22.

Lai Chi's father did not deny the information, but hinted people will soon hear details.

Is this another "flash marriage" common among people in the entertainment industry? Hong Kong's Next Magazine disclosed that the actress has been quietly dating Ma Tingqiang for about six years.

Lai Chi announced her retirement from show business shortly after the release of her latest work, "The Gem of Life," on October 20. Fans were told the actress had to look after the business of her brother, Lai Ying, who is in poor condition after a car accident.

Reportedly, Lai Chi felt stressed out with filming, looking after her brother, and running his business at the same time. It was Ma Tingqiang who lent Lai Chi a warm hand and helped her through the tough period.

Media reports say that, as Ma has difficulty moving, the wedding proceedings will be simplified and only relatives will be invited to the celebration. Sources say the actress is busy preparing her dowry.

Lai Chi has not yet confirmed the information.

Shahar Peer

2009-02-22T19:09:00.000+08:00

The UAE government has denied a visa to the Israeli tennis player, Shahar Peer, thus blocking her from participation in the Dubai Tennis Championships. Peer could have followed the foot steps of other Israeli sportspersons that have got through this loophole by presenting a passport from another country.

What Israel did was all sorts of wrong and the world condemned its actions - what UAE is doing by banning this athlete is also wrong. You can’t right a wrong with another wrong, diplomatic ties must start some where, why not sports?

When it comes to sport there is no race, no nationality, only the love for the game. No athlete should ever be banned from an event based upon race or nationality, which is so wrong.
Sport has absolutely nothing to do with war, in fact, it promotes exactly the opposite.

The Nazi Regime banned Israel from the 1936 Olympic Games Then let's be consistent, shall we? (To name a few) please ban the players from:

US (Williams, Roddick, etc..) - I'm sure you can all volunteer whichever conflict you'd like

Russia (quite a few players!) - Georgia and Chechnya come to mind as immediate examples. Though a domestic war in the case of Chechnya, I'm sure you'd support the reasoning since the pop. is principally Muslim

China (Shuai Peng and Zi Yang) - crackdown on Tibetans and in Xinjian

Serbia (so Djokovic is out amongst others)- we all remember the 90's

UK (Murray to start with) - Iraq as well!

Any Pakistani players? - Terrorist attack in Mumbai

...and the list can go on

All I say is that you be consistent in your criticism, and as a result support the consistent application of this "policy initiative".

If you want to be a venue for international sports events then it should be open...otherwise other associations like the PGA might as well be hosting events at all white clubs again.

It's a shame the tennis players don't start withdrawing based on this principle.

Elizabeth Wong Ex-boyfriend -Hilmi Malek-

2009-02-18T19:10:00.004+08:00

If Hee Yit Foong is the most hated woman in Malaysia, Elizabeth Wong ex-boyfriend Hilmi Malek must be the most hated man in Malaysia at this moment. If I am entrusted to choose “The Most Hated Human Being” in Malaysia at the moment, Hilmi Malek wins hand down.

The circulations of the photographs are really an act of coward, similar to pimps who force women into prostitution. The person who started all this is immoral and not even fit to be an animal or a prostitute even. How much was paid for these photos and clips?

In my opinion, this ‘person’ is willing to sell his own mother for the right price. He deserves to be hanged in public view for killing a woman “publicly” and Khir Toyol deserve to be parade naked in a Glass wall all over Malaysia.

It will be hard for Eli to trust man ever again and it will be even harder for her to fall in love again, although I don’t mind taking her as my second wife but would she trust me?

From Hilmi Malek Facebook, he is a Muslim and a devoted of Ibn Rushd and Manchester United Fans as well. Born 27 March...

He Likes to take photo of himself as well as others.

He Likes to take Photo of women regardless of them knowing or not (All Photos taken from his facebook)

He must have masturbate himself thinking of this Vietnamese Policewomen!

Young girls as well... BASTARD!

Terrorism has infiltrate our political system

2009-02-17T18:22:00.000+08:00

I don’t despise public figures whom private photos has been shown to public because if I do, I am letting the Evil forces win.

There are countless women who willingly, forcefully or not knowing their nude photos has been taken and use to blackmail them for money, sex and other favours.

What happened to YAB Elizabeth Wong can happen to any women, her naked photos was taken when she was asleep without her knowledge so what wrong has she done.

Public moral support now is not only for Eli but also for all those women who are threaten the same way but unable to fight off their attackers.

If society can get ride of thought like the Pariah like Khir t0y0l, more women will dare to come forward and fight off this kind of blackmail.

I hope Elizabeth Wong stay on to show that this kind of blackmail will not be able to bring her down.

Fuck the T0y0l… Fuck the photographers… Fuck all those who despise her!

Stand up Women… Stand up!!

Elizabeth Nude, Semi-Nude and on Bed Photos

2009-02-16T19:07:00.001+08:00

ELIZABETH HURLEY

ELIZABETH SHUE

SHANNON ELIZABETH

Save Sandakan from Musa Aman

2009-02-16T15:54:00.000+08:00

For people interested in the latest goings on by SESB and its attempt to turn Sandakan from the Nature City into a smog heap - check out. http://www.savesandakan.com/

From the Save Sandakan site - it seems to be a forgone conclusion we will be getting the powers station. It appears that the contract to build it was signed in Feb 2008 - so probably means they are committed to a Coal-power plant. I wonder who is getting the kick-back from the China National Electric Equipment Corporation for this project. The only question was where it was going to be. From the looks of the photo's http://www.savesandakan.com/the-site-photos/ - it appears that Sandakan has next to no choice - they have already started the earth-works.

Approximate coordinate of this Sandakan Coal fired power plant site:
N 5* 48' 03”, E 118* 01' 00"

Coal will be imported from Indonesia - cost of scow + transport cost + storage cost = % of income for who?

When Indonesia doesn’t want to sell or increase the price -- what happen? Shut down the coal plant?

In Sabah at Maliau basin and danum valley has vast deposit of coal reserved but they can’t dig it now because they will be destroying those “special” environment in both the areas but once the coal plant its build they will start digging, as they can come up with excuses that Indonesia isn’t selling coal or etc.

Before they start digging, deforestation start, logging, transport and digging income for whom?

I read about the Musa Aman's comments also in the star news online portal posted today. It's just dumb how he's trying so hard to emphasize the need of having this bloody coal plant.

Hope the efforts by the savesdk committee will at the very least leave a scratch to his dumb brain (which I think must be infested with maggots, judging by his ignorance of the whole dam plant).

Kurup Corrupted?

2009-02-12T18:38:00.000+08:00

The federal high court yet to decide when to announce the Kurup's appeal case even, after a full hearing today .

Why????

SPR will be holding a meeting tomorrow for kedah and perak by election, they could be held simultaneously. It is such a coincident that all three cases have fall within a week after Perak government was hijacked by Najib. If the high court should announce the result today which means there will be three by election within a week.

So now its the judge turn to be control by BN? Or, is the judge too stupid to decide here and now.

KK Street Boys

2009-02-12T14:49:00.000+08:00

Kota Kinabalu is full of street boys, I am not sure if they are locals or foreigners. If they are locals that mean they are entitle for all the benefits of bumiputra but if they are not, what should we do with them?

I am strongly against giving these foreigner street boys any assistant as they are lot of Sabah locals kids who needs help especially in the rural area. Some local kids in the rural areas don’t even have the chances and funds to attend school. Why should we help those foreigners’ kids?

Nobody know where these street kids came from but they are involve in lot of illegal activities like selling pirated CD, ciggrates, robs and others pain in the ass in KK.

Bury them alive!

Sulk-Tank Ass-hole Shark

2009-02-11T12:47:00.000+08:00

My two weeks Maldives vacation with limited internet access isn’t a good one because I got the news that our Silver state has fall to the Evil Umn0.

Most of us grow up only knowing Madir as PM and I grow up only respecting Sulk-Tank Ass-hole Shark as the true king. His hai-ness got the looks and the brain to be Sulk-tank, but I am wrong!

I thought his hai-ness is different from other R0yal asses whose contribution are only screwing white women and driving fast cars.

His Hai-ness is just another Najib Cock-sucker, doing whatsoever instructed by the money and power God.

If His Hai-ness has call for a new election, that would have solve all Silver state woes.

Ass-hole… truly an asshole… just another asshole…

Maldives Vacation

2009-02-03T21:24:00.000+08:00

When I was in Maldives for holidays, I wasn’t shock by those beautiful beaches and ocean but I was shock that there were actually people playing badminton in Maldives.

Elsewhere, I posted that, in the Maldives, the locals don't play badminton. How wrong I was. I should have made it clear that the locals don't play badminton 'in the resorts'... and that's only because the few courts they have are reserved for the guests.

The Maldives has a small but active badminton community. This is centred on Male (maa-lay) - the capital island. There are no resorts on this island - and the resident population is almost fully Maldivian. To play here, you need to sign up for an annual membership. This costs two photographs (keep them handy) and MVR 650 (USD 51). This gets you a laminated photo-identity card but, well, it takes a few days. (Life in the Maldives is slow-paced... and such delays are normal). Meanwhile, you can gain entry by flashing your receipt at the gates.

Remember to bring (or buy) shuttles and your choice of drink.There are no vending machines around - and you'd have to walk some distance to get soft drinks or bottled water. The locals use 77 speed RSL shuttles - they are cheap and bad. It's very difficult to persuade them to use Yonex or ProAce or other brands. Just remember to hit your clears more gently - else, it's out every time!The national team trains here (they are now away at the ABC) and all the ex-national players who haven't yet migrated elsewhere play here in the evenings (except on Friday, which is the weekly holiday). A few of them are very very good - fast, sharp and powerful - and Moosa, their best player, is quite an exceptional player.

Around a dozen women too turn up regularly - although they usually play among themselves, a few are good enough to play a good game of mixed doubles

The Maldives has now in place a programme that aims to build quality teams in football, basketball (yes, they do have quite a few very tall players) and badminton. In fact, they beat India in the South Asian Federation Games recently. (Although Indian football is no big deal in global terms, it is big in the region.)

UMN0 stops Pork in Sabah

2009-01-31T18:06:00.000+08:00

Recently I found that it’s very hard to get pork in Labuan and my cousin who lives in Labuan told me it has been 2 months since they ban the selling of pork in Labuan open market.

Everyone in labuan are feeling the pain without pork and pork seller has to sell their meat like network marketing and later it might be sell like drugs.

Why did UMN0 want to change a rule that has been going on for long time without problem? Pork use to be sold side by side with other poultry and fish at wet market.

Now, Food stall licenses are only issue to Muslim entrepreneurs and most school canteen is Muslim operated now.

For me, this is part of divide and rule tactic by the evil UMNO.

In Sabah, non Muslim and Muslim can eat and drink in any kedai kopi but after evil UMNO came in, you hardly see the Muslim eat and drink in non Muslim shop except got the HALAL certificate.

Please don't easily fell into evil UMNO trap. Sabahan must unit to kick the evil UMNO out from Sabah.

Why do the governments need to classify Bumiputra into Muslim Bumiputra and Non-Muslim bumiputra. Soon I think they will start classifying Malaysian into two categories.

Pork eating races
No pork eating races

UMNO is really a pariah party they will politicize everything, even pork. Sabahan Muslim doesn’t really care about pig farming and pork selling before the arrival of UMNO.

If the Sabah moslem population increased (illegal muslim immigrants obtained MYCARD, Pakistan, Bugis, Pinoy Suluk, Pinoy Bajau, Java, Mamak, Palestine), the evil UMNO will implement other stupid Islamic law again for example the Christian cannot use BAHASA MALAYSIA bible in church or ALLAH word in Christian bible. MAZU case in kudat is another very good example where you cannot build a MAZU close to their mosque. It is totally DISRESPECTFUL to other religion.

The more I wrote, the more I hate this evil UMNO. We just pray that GOD is so merciful to Sabahan and cast the evil UMNO out from our land.

What ever they say, Sinalau bakas, Sasau, Tonsom Babi, Pau Babi are the best food in the world.

The only way to slove the pork problem in Sabah is to make Pork HALAL! Everybody can eat pork!

Mazu going to kill Musa Aman in his Dream

2009-01-29T14:45:00.002+08:00

The trial of Mazu Statue in Kudat is on going but hearings for the case is always being delayed, why?

Can Chong Kah Kiat win this and finish the construction of the Mazu statue or the state government can with this case easily.

This is a very interesting case as it involves Sabah Chief Minister and few top officials of the state government.

Lawyers defending the State Government suddenly resigned before the trial begin, why?

I am confident if the trial goes on fairly, there is no reason why Chong Kah Kiat can’t win as Freedom of Religion is clearly stated in the federation. Just that the state government under Musa Aman try to belittle other community rights and now find themselves in deep shit!

Musa Aman said Mazu is a Demon statue and prohibited in Islam, Such a “sensitive” chief.

Big chief big shit!

Sabah Voters

2009-01-28T18:28:00.000+08:00

I am worried about the political scenario in Sabah as its quite different from what is happening in west Malaysia. Two by-election has pass (Permatang Pauh and Kuala Terrenganu), both of them won by Pakatan Rakyat. This show how much the people want change, especially changing the 50 years old Barisan Nasional.

Do Sabahan dare to do what the west Malaysian has done?
1. Sabah senior voters are mostly BN strong supporters.
2. Young voters yet to have the urge for change.
3. Lack of internet access in Sabah thus most info receives are pro-BN.
4. Our voters are easily bribed and trusted BN empty promises.
5. our leader don’t care about Sabahan, only try to get rich thus easily bought by federal BN.
6. No unity among races, religion and districts as implanted by UMNO.
7. Dominant races like Kadazan Dusun Murut are divided into few parties PBS, PBRS and UPKO. This will only make Najib’s plan of Divide and rule a success.
8. Voters never seriously consider their future before voting.

There are many more reason and factors than we must consider in order to get us out from the ruling of Western Malaysia in Sabah. Those western leader never honestly wanted to develop Sabah.

Happy Chinese New Year!

2009-01-26T01:00:00.001+08:00

BEWARE!

BE ALERT!

WISH ALL OF YOU HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

Persiangan Next?

2009-01-24T20:42:00.000+08:00

Kuala Terrenganu by-election is over and for sure BN is gearing up for Persiangan. Will BN attack Persiangan with Millions of ringgits?

To beat BN in Persiangan Sabah, the fight must one 1 vs 1. PKR must work with SAPP in order to fill just one candidate on their side. I don’t care if the opposition candidate is from PKR or SAPP but I prefer him / her to be local Persiangan for that the YAB can truly represent the people. Equally important is to make sure the candidate won’t jump, for Sabah is famous for frogging YAB!

Just like Datuk Shahril Samad said, Sabahan are different from Semanjung for most of them still honest citizen and rely heavily on their leader for decision. For that reason, Persiangan YAB must be some one who is willing to work for the people.

I love the opposition to win to show BN aka UMNO not to look down on Sabahan, so that they will listen to Sabahan and not to give us empty promises that they have been giving for the past 45years, especially Sabah natives.

Last General Election, BN UMNO make a documentary about the developments their have bought to Sabah and its people. That’s all lies, a small bridge like the one at Karamatoi also BN didn’t take good care of it, what else they want to talk about development. For sure, BN tried to make locals of Persiangan looks like idiots once more with that free movie.

Persiangan people don’t be satisfied with sweets that will finish in the mouth as the sweets will not be able to fulfill your hunger.

What development did BN bring to Persiangan? After 45years, the only road that connects Keningau and Tawau has yet to be asphalted. The road is only suitable for logging Lorries, how Persiangan people in Sepulut, Sook and Nabawan area going to develop? If there is a good roods, sure there will be more vehicles and tourist passing by thus the locals can improve their livings.
Our country is half a century old but yet Sabah roads are worst than mud holes, till when Sabahan is going to stand all this humiliation?

I just can’t imagine how our Najib Razak is going to Persiangan personally. Born with a golden spoon, how will Najib survive two hours in a super poor Persiangan. If Najib can stay there for a week then I will personally ask all the Persiangan people to vote for him. There is no 5stars hotel in Persiangan, not even one star…

Please Don't Stop The Music............

2009-01-23T15:30:00.000+08:00

PAS youth has been really aggressive lately, from Pussycat Dolls, Avril Lavigne, Gwen Stefani till Rihanna they want to boycott. Their reasons for boycotting are the USA and protect Asian Culture.

I couldn’t understand what Asian culture are they talking about, Malay culture or Chinese culture or Muslim culture? If its Malay culture that’s very subjective issue. PAS youth has become like Taliban, no compromise at all.

If they don’t want to go to those concerts, then don’t go but don’t affect people than is none of their concern.

I am totally against PAS youth trying to block music freedom in Malaysia. As a music lover, I view this situation as an unhealthy. PAS stands have affected non-Muslim as well. Their statement is too arrogant and do not take into consideration of non-Muslim. Music has nothing to do with them and nobody force them to go to those concerts.

I have been following PAS progress since 1990. PAS has been good under the leadership of Nik Aziz and people like Mat Sabu, Husam Musa and Shaari Sungib came out around that era. After 1999, PAS got lot of new guys who don’t know much about surviving in politics. From Pure Islam to Arab-influenced and now Talibanization.

Goodbye President Bush

2009-01-21T17:50:00.002+08:00

The Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at President Bush was silly and immature. A journalist has the biggest weapon in his hands, his pen. He uses words like cement and mortar to build institutions and personalities or like a hammer to break them. Why use a shoe? Anybody in the world can chuck a shoe at any one, provided he has shoes to spare. This man is no journalist.

The journalist should have tried to throw his shoes at President Saddam Hussein also, when so many Iraqis disagreed with the President’s methods of handling protests. Most probably, the journalist would not have returned home for supper in the evening to his house. He dare to attack Bush because he isn’t as cruel as Saddam Hussein!

Clearly, Iraqi and American security were lacking in speed of response. How can a man throw two objects at the President, one after the other, and security could not nab him after the first throw itself? The security officers should start visiting the gymnasiums for regular workouts.

Full marks to President Bush for his agile responses in ducking the shoes. He seems to be more fit and lithe than all the security personnel.

Peace Plan for Gaza

2009-01-19T12:47:00.000+08:00

I think Muslim around the world should stop being emotional and seek logical solutions to Palestine issue because as it's clear Israel will always be there and Palestine have to be smarter about dealing and fighting against it.

Jews are smart and well organized, Palestine can't even agree among themselves and their actions aren't well planned, they can't even get along among themselves which makes it hard for them to fight.

Hamas shot their extra rockets and Fatah won the aids money and the poor Gaza people got the disaster part. I think they should rebel against Fatah and Hamas and form a united front.

They have to accept that Israel isn’t going anywhere for the next 50 years at least. Then Abbas and his "government" needs to JOIN Israel and ERADICATE Hamas, Fatah, and every other "group" (terrorists)!

Then and only then, will you have a single government who can actually look out for those people. When a spokeswoman for Abbas was asked on CNN if they had any contact with Hamas, she answered no.

As we say in Arabic, Illi fat, mat. What’s past is dead. No matter what you type here, say, do, or think. ISRAEL IS GOING TO BE HERE FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT 50 YEARS.

Get that in your head, and start working around it.

I spend four years of my teenage years in Northern Ireland and when asked about 'the troubles', used to say "I don't care about either side anymore. If they want to go around looking for reasons to kill, why should I worry about it? When both sides want peace the people spouting violence will eventually lose and the people wanting to talk will win. I don't care who was right or wrong anymore, I'm just want to live my life without hearing another kid in my neighborhoods has died."

Wonder if that moment will hit the Middle East (from both sides)?

Hamas killing Palestinians

2009-01-18T17:17:00.000+08:00

Open the video Link below

It may help you to understand why Israel is now fighting Hamas in the Gaza strip

I've seen many videos and photos, but this is by far the best description of Hamas ! This video was made not by Israelis, but by an Arab , a Palestinian who shows you who hamas really is !

Israel has been telling this to the world for years, but the world prefers to turn the deaf ear and blind eye to the sad truth!

Hamas against the Palestinians! This is how they succeeded in being elected - by force !

Watch and learn.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_OGhj43GAE

Gajah sama Gajah berjuang, Pelantuk mati ditengah-tengah

Gazan Blaming Hamas for Death

2009-01-18T12:08:00.002+08:00

Enough is enough, say tired Gazans
Reuters
Published: January 17, 2009, 23:27

Gaza: Exhausted by lack of sleep, shattered by countless bombs and drained by bereavement, Gazans held out hope for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Saturday, if only for a chance to collect their lives.

"We do not care how, we want a ceasefire. We want to go back to our homes. Our children need to go back to sleep in their beds," said Ali Hassan, 34, a father of five who is sheltering in his brother's house in the centre of Gaza.

"Enough is enough," he said, explaining how he had moved his family from north Gaza to the centre of the city two weeks ago to escape Israeli bombardments in his neighbourhood.

"Our ears were about to blow up from the continued bombings. We are even lucky to be alive still," he said.

Despite stepped-up diplomacy and signs a ceasefire could soon be declared, Israel has sustained its three-week-old air, tank and artillery assault, seeking to deal a definitive blow to Hamas and its rockets before any truce takes hold.

In the face of the onslaught, which Palestinian doctors say has killed 1,200 Palestinians, including 410 children, Hamas has continued to fire rockets into Israel, albeit fewer than before, with seven launched yesterday, according to the Israeli army.

Thirteen Israelis have been killed in the conflict, 10 soldiers and three civilians hit by rocket fire.

With several relatives killed, and little sign Hamas's missiles were having a deep impact on Israel, Hassan suggested it was time for Israel to take the initiative and cease fire.

"A unilateral ceasefire from the side of Israel would be a blow to Hamas, a political defeat," he said.

"Israel could claim they entered the heart of Gaza, destroyed the places, killed Seyyam and can come again any time," he said, referring to Hamas security chief Saeed Seyyam, who died in an Israeli air strike on Thursday.

Others, though, were not convinced, saying Hamas should instead try to strike an open-ended ceasefire with Israel.

"That way they can claim it is not permanent and can break it once they have the ability to," said Aziz, a taxi driver.

"Hamas has made a point. Hamas has not been broken, they are continuing to fire rockets when they want and where they want. But they need to think wisely of the gains and the losses."

Stopping rockets

The gains and losses of Hamas's policy are a major point of discussion among Gazans, many of whom instinctively support Palestinian resistance against Israel, but question the cost in lives and destruction of the past three weeks. "Rockets must end. What did we gain from them?" said Lama, a secretary for a Gaza company, who would not give her full name.

"Now Hamas is negotiating a truce. They were given an offer to renew it in December but they refused. Now after thousands of casualties, how does Hamas explain that?" she asked.

Hamas has fired around 8,000 rockets and mortars into Israel since 2001, killing 21 people and causing widespread disruption in southern towns. Israel has said stopping rockets is the chief objective of its offensive.

What make the Israeli so blond and merciless in their attacks?

2009-01-14T15:14:00.000+08:00

It’s the 19th day, there were far fewer air strikes on Gaza City and other parts of the north than on the previous night, but there isn’t any sign of the war stopping.

What make the Israeli so blond and merciless in their attacks?

In the 1930s the entire Arab world boycotted Israel, they were stranded with no trade and supply lines and that continue into the forties and the fifties they continued to wallow in hunger. Most family in Jerusalem received only one egg a day, the malnourished Jewish can be seen today in Israel. Pregnant women can’t even leave their houses due to the strict curfew.

Isn’t this what those Palestinian facing now?

Jewish refugees came to Israel from all over Arab world because they were force to leave behind all their fortunes in Baghdad, Tripoli, Sudan & etc. They rather live in tents inside mud fields in Israel rather that victimized by those Arab countries. Don’t know for what so ever reason, Arabs hate the Jewish. Even before the setup of Israel State, Jewish homes were latterly burned down by Arabs.

You got to admire all these Jewish people, instead of crying of spilled milk, they work very hard to get where they are today. All this while leaving in a very poor condition, something like Gaza today. Seven people in one small room with a shower tap outside for all twenty inhabitants and kitchen that not even fit to make sandwiches.

They laughed at their own misery and found whatever joy they could in being alive and they emerged from hell into a paradise build out of their own sweat and blood. That’s what they did and all these while fighting off seven armies when they announced independence in accordance with the UN resolution. Later facing conflict after conflict and their citizen were taxed to the hilt to defend this tiny slither of land.

Jewish used their desperations and made something of it and today you have the Intel chip - the cell phone - artificial insemination - voicemail - sophisticated billing systems - the disk on key - noninvasive digestive cameras - drip agriculture - cd rom and countless other output to be thankful for.. Yes! Please boycott all of the above cause its Jewish Invention. DIRECT FROM JEWISH, not even go through USA!

I wonder why so many Malaysian show so much concern about Palestine? Palestine neighbors don’t really care. Did Israel really treat them bad or they want to make the world believe that the world believe that Israel treated them bad.

Go see how the Lebanese treat their Palestinians restricted from dealing in any reasonable profession whereas Israel have Palestinians as members of parliament lawyers and hospitals are a flush with Arab Israelis many of whom are self defined Palestinian.

Go see how the refugees of Jordan live and compare them to those in shuafat and jenin and you will see how much better they have it in Israel.

Even when the Gazans breached the Egyptian border the Egyptian were mortified by how much wealthier even the Gazans were over the Palestinians of the north sinai who suddenly bought all of their stocks and goods only to sell half of them back for triple the amount.

Did Israel cut electricity to Gaza?

Hamas bombed the very Israeli power plant that sends them electricity. Three rockets were targeted at and landed within its precinct. Are you suggesting Israel need to both fix the damage foot the bill and then continue to send them energy?

Israeli pays a premium because naturally Arab countries don’t sell them energy resources? How many ends does a raw stick have?

You can’t deny the brutality of the Middle Eastern Jewish faces in the hand of Arabs, Syria has but a handful of Jewish and the hundreds of thousands of Moroccan Jewish are nowhere to be found except in Israel and France.

I have been to morocco and love that country for what it is but the synagogues stand decrepit and the old Jewish quarters are sanitized of Jews. Essaouirra once had 14 thousand Jews and now has but 4 families.

Yes what the Arab nations did to Jews was definitely as bad as the Nazis only far longer period of time.

Except for a community in Iran which itself is a mere fraction of what was once one of the largest communities of Jews outside Israel - the Muslim world is virtually Jews-free.

So don’t go blaming the Germans, Arabs beat them at their game.

BUT that is history and today we have a new tragedy.

Take Shuafat refugee camp - a camp built on the traditional lands of Arab shuafat within the ring of greater Jerusalem. These people need to start living normal lives. They’re on Palestinian land anyway. Why not pave their roads? Why not sort out their own sewage system and regulate their local tax contributions? Why not live and negotiate your terms through dignity and productivity rather than riots and violence?

We need to both be willing to use the mouth instead of the gun if dialog is to ever become a viable option.

And it has to be. Because as so many wiser people said here Violence leads to no peace..

As much as people want to paint Jewish as the region pariah, if the people of every accusing state were to check themselves first - not for the past - just for the present – they are not 100% right!

Gaza: Walk the Talk

2009-01-11T20:57:00.003+08:00

A Dubai-based doctor is to risk his life defying an Israeli sea blockade of Gaza today.

“I’m not being cheesy or fatalistic about this, but we have to be realistic about the dangers. Whatever comes, so be it,” Dr Ali Dabbagh said as he prepared to board a ship in Cyprus that will take him to the Gaza coast.

Israeli navy boats are stationed off the Gaza coast and last week rammed a similar effort to reach Gaza civilians.

The group ‘Free Gaza Campaign’ had to abandon their boat last week and have returned with another vessel, this time with Dr Dabbagh on.

“I’m in a pharmacy collecting last minute supplies. Anything we can get our hands on, we are going to use,” Dr Dabbagh said from a port that cannot be named for security reasons.

The boat was due to reach the Gaza coast today, where an Israeli blockade had promised to stop ships passing.

“We have heard all kinds of stories about other boats that have tried the same thing. All I can do is go ahead and hope for the best,” Dr Ali said.

Under the terms of the Oslo peace agreement, Israeli still controls Gaza coastal waters and has vowed not to let any vessels through to Gaza during its bombardment of the Palestinian territory.

Dr Dabbagh said that most medical supplies were already onboard the ship and that he had “pulled the short straw” and was being sent to the pharmacy to buy extra supplies.

Dr Dabbagh’s mission is particularly important as many of the others onboard are journalists who been blocked from reporting in Gaza.

He heard about the ship last Thursday and immediately dropped everything and rushed to Cyprus to help.

This is the only one who walk the talk!

McMahathir

2009-01-09T21:47:00.003+08:00

Ex-prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said Malaysians "will not die if they do not use the US goods" and urged those working for US companies such as fast-food giant McDonalds to quit their jobs.

"I hope Starbucks and McDonald's employees will stop working there," he told a crowd of 500 people who held a noisy protest outside the National Mosque after Friday prayers.

"If you have the US dollar, please change to other currencies, or to our ringgit. When you stop using the US dollar its value will drop," Mahathir added.

"They will become a bankrupt country and will not be able to produce weapons for Israel."

MacMahathir or Mad-Mahathir?

Susu Anak, Loan Rumah & Kereta... Mahathir bayar?

Babi! Babi! Babi!

2009-01-09T17:38:00.000+08:00

In a zoo in California, a mother tiger gave birth to a rare set of triplet tiger cubs.. Unfortunately, due to complications in the pregnancy, the cubs were born prematurely and due to their tiny size, they died shortly after birth.

The mother tiger after recovering from the delivery, suddenly started to decline in health, although physically she was fine. The veterinarians felt that the loss of her litter had caused the tigress to fall into a depression. The doctors decided that if the tigress could surrogate another mother's cubs, perhaps she would improve.

After checking with many other zoos across the country, the depressing news was that there were no tiger cubs of the right age to introduce to the mourning mother. The veterinarians decided to try something that had never been tried in a zoo environment. Sometimes a mother of one species will take on the care of a different species. The only orphans' that could be found quickly were a litter of weanling pigs. The zoo keepers and vets wrapped the piglets in tiger skin and placed the babies around the mother tiger. Would they become cubs or pork chops?

Take a look...you won't believe your eyes!!

Now, please tell me one more time... Why can't the rest of the world get along?

'Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass; it's about learning to dance in the rain.'

Girls night out

2009-01-06T23:50:00.000+08:00

Two women friends had gone for a "girls’ night out".

They both were very faithful, loving wives... however; they had gotten a bit over enthusiastic on Bacardi Breezers. Incredibly drunk and walking home, they needed to pee, so they stopped in a cemetery.

One had nothing to wipe with so she decided to take off her panties and use them.

Her friend, however, was wearing expensive panties and didn't want to ruin them...luckily she had squatted next to a grave that had a fresh wreath with a ribbon on it...so she proceeded to wipe with that.

After the girls completed their "business" they continued toward home.

The following day, one of the women's husbands was concerned that his normally sweet and innocent wife was still in bed and hung over.

He phoned the other husband, and said “These girls’ nights out have got to stop! I'm starting to suspect the worst! My wife came home with no panties!"...

"That's nothing!" said the other husband, “mine came back with a card stuck to her butt that read:

"FROM ALL OF US AT THE FIRE STATION... WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU"!!!

End of Story

Out with Africa's big five

2009-01-05T22:11:00.001+08:00

“Hold on tight and don’t let go!” shouted Samson over the sound of the motor as the van rumbled down the rough, weather-beaten path towards the cavernous mouth of the Ngorongoro crater.

My mouth went dry and my hands turned clammy in anticipation of what lay only a few kilometres ahead.

Our tiny safari party was soon swallowed up by the yawning jaws of the crater.

Flourishing within the belly and the walls of this natural amphitheatre were approximately 25,000 wild animals roaming free.

To me, that felt like unearthing the proverbial pot of gold at the rainbow’s end.

One of the highest peaks

Between steering the van down the rugged dirt route and listening to his blaring radio, Samson, my Tanzanian guide, enlightened me about this Unesco World Heritage Site.

About three million years ago, Ngorongoro was one of the highest peaks in Africa.

Triggered by the turbulent formation of the Rift Valley, the volcano erupted and then collapsed on itself forming the dramatic Ngorongoro crater, measuring 265 square kilometres, now known as the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

I looked out at the clear blue Tanzanian sky from the van window and imagined the volcano spewing lava in fury and transforming the scene forever.

This indentation on the African plains, rich in fertile volcanic soil, became home to Africa’s “big five” — the rhinoceros, lion, leopard, elephant and buffalo.

A combination of lakes, swampy grasslands and lush green forests attracted an assortment of air- and land-bound fauna to feed, soak, forage and wander freely.

Spread out on a yellow, sun-baked carpet of savannah grass lay wildebeest and zebras in their thousands.

Shoulder to shoulder they stood, grazing peacefully while I feasted my eyes on them.

Towering Euphorbia trees dotted the 600-metre-deep crater. Heat waves emanated from the ground as these grassy plains sweltered under the blazing African sun.

Gazelles, buffalo, eland, wildebeest and zebra roam the very same savannah as their large carnivore neighbours.

Breaking my reverie, Samson’s two-way radio crackled to life with news of lion sightings.

My heart pounded as our coffee-coloured vehicle tore through the grass, kicking up dirt in its wake.

Three young males, possibly brothers, were spotted on a hillside.

In their prime, these cubs with developing golden manes were clearly biding their time to adulthood.

Eventually they would fight an older male and take over his pride.

This would ensure the right to mate with the pride’s lionesses and sire the next generation.

For the moment, these gorgeous, golden kings with young manes to match looked perfectly content.

Lions are stealthy killing machines with powerfully built torsos and crushing jaws to bring down prey double their size and to rip it to shreds. It is plain to see why it is considered the king of beasts.

Samson decided it was time for a break and scouted around for a comfortable picnic.

Sitting under the cool shade of an ancient baobab tree, the spot selected could not have been better.

With sprawling grasslands for view and twittering birds for company, we gobbled up sandwiches, washing them down with cans of chilled juice.

As the van set off one more time, I took my place under the open roof once again, drowsy from the warmth and the picnic but too excited to miss out anything.

And then I saw them — two graceful ostriches — one male, one female.

Black-and-white plumes puffed up, the male ostrich attempted a mating dance, enthusiastically bobbing his head about.

Hearing the crackle of twigs, Samson killed the noisy ignition. Rustling through the grass was a lone bull elephant.

He cut through the grassy path a few metres ahead of our grimy van. Solitary in his thoughts, the elephant explored his environs and chewed on leaves.

It is never a good idea to get too close to a bull elephant, so Samson quickly started the engine and gently backed away.

As we moved from the bush into the open grasslands, we came across Maasai tribesmen dressed in red, casting long shadows in the late afternoon sun.

Tall, dark and handsome, they carried long sticks and grazed their cattle on a hillside.

Arriving in the region somewhere in the 1800s, they were moved in 1959 to the newly declared Ngorongoro Conservation Area.

The Maasai tribespeople are permitted to graze their cattle in this crater, thereby maintaining their way of life within a natural environment.

I looked out the back of the van to see shimmering images of our crimson-clad friends disappear in the afternoon haze.

Blackened earth under our wheels seemed to taint the terrain. Samson explained that to manage vegetation in the crater, grass and bush were often set on fire.

Dusk settled and the buzz of insects infused the air as a turmeric sun set over the majestic Tanzanian terrain.

Like members of a privileged audience, I had been witness to an exceptional display of Africa’s natural performers.

Twilight would bring its own share of sinewy shadows, stalking the savannah and its swampy watering holes.

Standing up through the open roof, I turned towards the auburn expanse to see the sky and earth become one — the fierce eternal bond that brings together the grassland with grazers, dry bush with strapping tribesmen, and forests with foragers. A never-ending circle of life.

Facts about Palestine

2009-01-02T18:32:00.000+08:00

Israel is a country, acknowledged by the UN and the majority of the world, INCLUDING a few MUSLIM and ARAB countries (Egypt is a prime example)

There is NO country on this planet called Palestine.

"Palestinians" who do NOT have ANY passport, but a "Wathiqa" (Document) may travel as they wish.

Israel has an actual government, a constitution, and a claim to that land. Before Israel, that land was a part of the British mandate of Palestine, a name the British MADE UP. Before 1912, NO "Palestinians" existed. The people who lived there were Jordanians, Syrians, Egyptians, and constituencies (kind of) of the Ottoman Empire.

The "Palestinian" issue stems from the fact that their "leaders" are corrupt dogs, and they can’t get along with each other.

You can only be Japanese if there is a Japan, Chinese if there is a China and German if there is a Germany... So... Palestinians are from...? (Again, there is today, NO country called Palestine.)

The correct terminology, based on the geographical setting of Gaza would either be Egyptian or Israeli.

With the absence of either Israeli or Egyptian citizenship, these "stateless people" are just that, STATELESS.

I actually dont have anything PERSONALLY against these people. Nor have I gone through one single situation that makes me "hate" them.

I like facts. There isn’t a Palestine, and thus there can’t be Palestinians. The UN caters to them because they don’t know what to do with hem.

ISRAEL being an actual country has an obligation to protect its people, and if that means genocide, so be it.

"Palestinians" have no such right, as they don’t have a country or government that is allowed to do that for them. They have a "president" who is powerless to stop crazy fanatics as they do what they wish.

Again, if YOU feel strongly about this, if YOU care, then YOU should be there HELPING, NOT sitting in your safe ell off house typing on the computer.

But I don’t expect anything from people who bark with drunken sincerity when ordered. You are pathetic and a prime example as to why the human race as a whole is one vile mess.

Oh, and just because you died, doesn’t mean you are automatically a martyr. There are rules for martyrdom, ones that usually never are present in the Arab Israeli conflict.

Muslim World protests!

2009-01-01T18:21:00.000+08:00

It seems that maybe the so-called “Muslim World” should have started protesting a week ago when Hamas (acting as the government of Gaza) suddenly started firing up to 80 missiles a day into Israel. Everybody knew what was going to happen, and Hamas knew as well.

It’s all so predictable. First, Israel waits a few days to monitor the attacks, and let the world witness the Hamas attacks, and gather intelligence about launch sites. Then Israel responds with force. And because the Hamas missiles were being launched from civilian areas, civilian lives would be lost.

Seen it all before

Looking at recent history, Israel does not sit idle while being hit by daily rocket barrages from Gaza, everybody knows that.

Hamas eventually got what it wanted - a full-scale armed response from Israel. But is that what the Palestinian people wanted?

Now everybody is talking about a ceasefire. Well, there WAS a ceasefire - it ended on the 19th December, and that’s when Hamas started firing the missiles into Israel. Another ceasefire will just be a temporary pause, nothing more.

Full scale armed conflict with Israel is good for Hamas - it increases their funding tenfold and gets them sympathy and support from all over the world. I just wish the ordinary Gaza residents could decide whether they want to enter into full-scale war with Israel, instead of Hamas deciding for them.

Edi神’s Top 10 for 2008

2008-12-31T23:59:00.002+08:00

Edi神’s top ten reasons why 2008 was a good one for everything that didn't stick to the ordinary.

1. Barack Obama

Politician
Claim to fame: The first African-American President-elect of the United States.
Headline hunter: High

This is the year of Barack Obama. The first African-American President-elect of the United States, Obama has emerged as a symbol of change for a country that's being weighed down by a costly war in Iraq and Afghanistan and a crippling financial crisis.

The defining moment of Obama's global stature as a politician came much before his landslide victory in the November 4 election. During a campaign tour that took him to Europe and the Middle East, he addressed a 200,000-strong gathering in Berlin at the Victory Column in Tiergarten on July 24, 2008 – no American politician has ever had an audience of this proportion, such is the buzz that the man generates today.

2. Seth Rogen

Actor
Claim to fame: Hollywood's brightest comedian
Headline hunter: High

Seth Rogen is today a hot contender for 'the funniest man in Hollywood' and he's achieved all this by just being himself. In the last 15 odd months, the 26 year-old has either scripted or acted or done both in some of Hollywood's biggest hits – Superbad, Knocked Up, Pineapple Express, Drillbit Taylor.

There's more coming – Rogen's now producing and starring in the screen adaptation of the comic book The Green Hornet. It's no wonder he's made it to our list of 2008's most talked about people.

3. Usain Bolt

Athlete
Claim to fame: The world's fastest man
Headline hunter: High

At 1.96metres, Usain Bolt is too tall to be a sprinter. Yet, the Jamaican, who was virtually unknown even six months ago, left Beijing achieving rock star status.

Bolt now holds the Olympic and world records for 100 metres (9.69 seconds), the 200 metres (19.30) and the 4x100m relay (37.10). He is the first man to win all three events including the 4x100m relay at a single Olympics since Carl Lewis in 1984, and the first man in history to set world records in all three at a single Olympics.

4. The Joker

Anarchist
Claim to fame: He gave us a better class of criminal
Headline hunter: High

Granted, Heath Ledger's untimely death set the hype machinery rolling, but The Dark Knight outlived all the hype and ran away with the box office crown of 2008. And at the centre of it all was Ledger's portrayal of the Joker – a character so twisted and anarchic, that he reduced a terrific Christian Bale's Batman to a sideshow. Ledger carved out an iconic character; he gave Hollywood a better class of criminal. Too bad we'll never see him again.

5. Aravind Adiga

Writer
Claim to fame: Winner of the Man Booker Prize
Headline hunter: Moderate

So you write this really edgy debut novel, a novel that stuns the reader with the injustices prevalent in Indian society, that lays bare India's binary nature – the 'Light' and 'Darkness' – a book that goes on to win the Man Booker Prize, and you hope not to draw criticism from your fellow countrymen in India? That's the story of Aravind Adiga, the 34-year-old resident of Mumbai, who struck gold with his debut novel, The White Tiger.

Adiga, who has in the past worked with The Financial Times and Time magazine, lives in Mumbai defends his work saying that his depiction of modern India in the book was more like a 'self-examination'. "A lot of poorer Indians are left confused and perplexed by the new India that is being formed around them," Adiga said in a recent interview.

6. Chevrolet Volt

Battery-powered concept car
Claim to fame: Electrifying future transport
Headline hunter: High

This car will offer Americans a chance to redeem themselves – a chance to atone for all those years spent driving those big, petrol-guzzling, exhaust-spewing trucks.

If everything goes according to plan in 2010, the battery-powered Volt will run up to 64km – a distance that covers more than the daily commute of 75 per cent of drivers without using a single drop of petrol. And it doesn't look like an electric car, which is to say, it doesn't look like a golf buggy. To give you an idea of how influential the Volt is, know this: every other big car manufacturer is now working hard on similar projects.

7. Duffy

Singer
Claim to fame: Think Amy Winehouse without the bad press.
Headline hunter: High

Aime Anne Duffy's rise coincided with the fall of Amy Winehouse, who, despite winning seven Grammy awards for her knockout Back to Black album has looked like a car crash the whole year. Duffy's Rockferry, released in March this year, debuted at number one on the UK album charts and sold more than 3.4 million copies worldwide.

Wide-eyed, fresh-faced and with none of the drug problems that Winehouse has been dealing with, Duffy's had a remarkable 2008 and is now busy writing songs for her next album.

8. Robert Downey Jr.

Actor
Claim to fame: Giving the superhero a soul.
Headline hunter: Moderate

How do you prevent a character like Iron Man from falling into that same celluloid abyss that claimed superheroes like the Daredevil, Blade or Spawn? Luckily for Marvel, they got it right with the casting – Robert Downey Jr. dug deep into his once-debauched personal life to make Tony Stark a character most blokes could relate to. He followed it up with a ripper of a role in Tropic Thunder. For sheer versatility in 2008, Downey makes the cut.

9. Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak

CEO, Mubadala Development
Chairman, Manchester City F.C.
Claim to fame: Putting Abu Dhabi on the world sporting map. Headline hunter: High

At 32, Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak is a vital cog in the machine that's transforming Abu Dhabi into a key tourism and business hub in the region. He was instrumental in bringing Formula One and the FIFA Club World Cup to Abu Dhabi in 2009 and is today the chairman of Manchester City after a group of investors from Abu Dhabi bought out the Premiership club. He is the CEO of a company that owns shares in Ferrari, AMD and the Carlyle Group.

10. Rafael Nadal

Tennis professional
Claim to fame: Usurped the once-invincible Roger Federer from the No. 1 ranking.
Headline hunter: High

Nadal did the unthinkable this year – he beat Federer in an epic final at Wimbledon just months after thrashing him at Roland Garros in the French Open final. He ended Federer's record 237-weeks at the top spot in men's ranking in August and then went on to win the gold medal in the single's final at Beijing Olympics. The 22 year-old with the rippling muscles and the pirate pants has defied doubters who questioned his ability outside clay courts. Though fatigue forced him out of the season-ending Master's Open, it's going to take some doing to topple him from his high-chair now.

Palestinian consulate

2008-12-31T18:27:00.000+08:00

Palestinian consulate, how can a consulate exist for an entity that isn’t a country?!

Only in the Arab world!

So again, as always, the various factions that make up the Palestinian fiasco cant back one single leader, you have crazy yahoos doing what they want in Gaza, as the actual president (and I use the term lightly) Abbas is against what they are doing... but has no control over them...

I don’t see why this is such a huge issue. You have a "group" not a government, and not a country, attacking a country. Like it or not, Israel IS a country, and has been for 50 some odd years.

And when that country attacked back, it’s bad?

The west bank should attack Gaza, take it over, cleanse it of crazy people, and the give up the dream of having Jerusalem for the next 100 or so years.

The west bank can be Palestine. Simple, maybe one day Israel won’t exist, that land has been MANY countries over the last 2000 years.

For now, wouldn’t having a real country, under one government, be better than what’s going on?

And I’m sick and tired of hearing about this. Palestinians aren’t any more special the Iraqis, or people in Zimbabwe. The world has a thousand and one issues, I’m tired of reading, seeing, and being asked to donate to their case.

In fact, I now want to donate to the Israeli army. No, I’m not kidding.

Also, Malaysia isn’t a democracy; the right to assemble without police permission is not allowed. Those demonstrators in front of the US embassy should have been arrested and sent to Gaza, since they like it so much.

Phil Collins’ fault that Stevie G saw red

2008-12-31T14:07:00.001+08:00

As a life-time admirer I have been watching the Steven Gerrard arrest closely. I know his favourite album is Phil Collins’ greatest hits and that he is a massive fan. As it happens the fracas was reportedly started when the DJ refused to play Phil Collins, at which point Stevie G attacked him. What kind of music inspires this kind of violence? Most think of Marilyn Manson and the like, but here it is revealed. Phil Collins clearly inspires hatred and rage. The clues are all there, the skinhead, the hard, flinty stare. Well Phil, on behalf of music and peace fans everywhere please remember that when there’s dark music around it will never is another day for you and me in paradise!

Hamas drew First Blood

2008-12-30T13:12:00.001+08:00

Israeli jets attacked the Gaza Strip for a fourth day, with raids on a number of Hamas government buildings.

All pro-arab newspaper said about the 300 plus Palestinians have died since Saturday but none of these newspaper mention about the four Israelis killed by rockets from Gaza.

The Arab people are crying loudly now, condemning Israel for bullying them. They seem to forget that they are the one who drew first blood. Is like jumping into the cage of a lion and blame the lion for the attack.

Israel's right to defend itself from militant rocket attacks and some said they retaliation is excessive but I strongly agreed that they need to totally destroy Hamas. In the same way, Israel is also helping Hamas’s soldier to die a hero. Don’t they want to get there first before it run out of virgins?

An emergency summit of Arab League foreign ministers is scheduled but they are more interested in discussing their economy woes than Gaza disobedient. This is what they call Brothers, LOL!

Egypt and Jordan still hold on to their respective peace and industrial (QIZ) agreements with Israel because they are smart enough to know the real culprit is Hamas as Hamas draw first blood.

There are protests everywhere in Egypt, UAE, Malaysia and even on the blogsphere but all of these protesters only talk, talk and talk only. If they really want to help these Palestine (their so called brothers), those protestors shall sell everything they have and go to Gaza to help out.

Action speaks louder than words… BROTHERS!

Israel to invade Gaza?

2008-12-29T12:45:00.000+08:00

Israeli warplanes pounded the Hamas for a third consecutive day on Monday and prepared for a possible invasion after killing at least 307 Palestinians in the air raids.

Israel, which stepped up the air strikes after dark on Sunday, said it launched the campaign on Saturday in response to almost daily rocket and mortar fire that intensified after the Hamas group ended a six-month ceasefire a week ago.

The only way to stop this war is by invading Hamas rule Gaza areas because these barbaric Hamas can never sit down and talk. They all like to die as martyr and Israel is giving them the chance. All Palestinian must kiss Israel flag as a sign of thank you.

Stupid Hamas

2008-12-28T16:20:00.000+08:00

Israel attacked dozens of security compounds and weapons storage facilities throughout the Gaza Strip yesterday, killing at least 210 Palestinians, including women and children, and wounding more than 700 others in the bloodiest single day for Palestinians in more than two decades of conflict.

More than 80 Israeli planes and combat helicopters pounded Hamas security installations in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military was claiming retaliation for rockets fire by militants.

I have only one word for this Hamas supporter…

STUPID!

Israel has countless times warned them not to fire rocket to Israel territories but this Hamas never listen.

Its like a little kid (Hamas) keeps slapping a Giant (Israel). Then Giant don’t feel any pain but tell the little kid to stop.

The little kid thought he is very macho and keep slapping the giant.

When the giant smack him back, he cried loudly and said the giant bully him.

Stupid!

Hamas Vs Israel, only Palestinians people suffers…

World Class Players in Sabah

2008-12-24T17:12:00.000+08:00

First, let me just say the SUPER SERIES FINAL 2008 was a roaring success, not only because it was held in my home state of Sabah, the badminton was superb; a true showcase of terrific skills of power, speed and finesse.

The crowd of 5000 was fantastic because they supported and cheered for both sides. That helped bring out the best from the players.

This time because I finally wised up to the perks of staying in the official hotel, I had opportunities to meet and find out more about the players world.

Thomas Laybourn
Over breakfast, I asked him why Danes take so long to 'mature' and what his training schedule's like. He said except for Peter Gade and Tine Rasmussen who are both paid rather well by their clubs, other Danes have to have a day job.

Lay has his own business so he has flexibility with his badminton. Because of that, the Danes don't train fulltime like Asian players. He trains 4 hours a day; 2 before 'day job' and 2 after. Unlike Asians who probably put in 8 hours per day all in. Because skills take a threshold period to master, that's why Danes seem to take double the time.

Thus what takes at least 3 years for Asian players to show, it will take Danes 6 years, since they train at half the intensity. Thus Danes will 'mature' as champion material after the age of 25. But it also means they can last longer since they punish their body less over time. That’s why PG's equivalent age to an Asian player is probably 27 although he's 32.

Candra Wijaya
In the shuttle bus, he surprised me by thanking me for supporting him and Tony during their matches. I was so relentlessly vocal in cheering them after they lost their G1 to Hendra Setiawan & Makis Kido in a flash. Maybe that's why he could match the cheering voice to the speaking voice but wow, he's got good hearing sense. He said it helps fire them up when they have support from the crowd even if it's a lone voice.

Candra's a very busy man. He has his own business and also he's involved in the Japan league. He said there are hundreds of badminton clubs in Japan and for the league, there's no prize money for the champion but prestige and pride. I asked him about his fitness regime and that's when he sounded sheepish. Well, Candra works out once or twice in the gym for an hour or so,when he has the time. This means he probably doesn’t.

Datuk Lee Chong Wei
Queuing for the fried noodle, I mentioned that he should dump his habit of getting sidetracked by poor line calls. Line judges get so mesmerized by his badminton, they sometimes forget they have a job to do on the court that's why his matches usually have some line call problems, I suggested. He laughed at the rationale which is good because it'll help him remember. He has enough insurance for 2 or 3 poor calls if he stays focused but none if he wastes time and energy on this distraction.

I spoke to coach Teh on this for double effect. Chong Wei only needs to correct 1 or 2 of his non-badminton aspects and he will be unbeatable. All these problems are within his control so it's easy to solve. There is another aspect which I will not mention here which LCW rectified and I was amazed how that little change can make such a big difference in his matches against Taufik and Peter Gade.(Please note I'm not trying to claim credit here)

Saina Nehwal
Saina's so articulate she should be the spokesperson for badminton players. I mentioned that she came across faster and more powerful compared to when I first saw her play. How did she do it?

'Well, first I lost weight by working out in the gym. I do a lot of running because Women Single is a lot of running. ‘Losing weight means energy is fully used for badminton and none wasted lugging excess luggage around. Something for Chin Eei Hui to think about?
No wonder I thought she has also grown taller. Not only that, with each tournament, she surprises with distinct progress. She said her coach would work with her on her weakness revealed in each tournament so that it's fixed before the next one.

Saina's gonna be the most dangerous Women Single because her opponents won't know what else she has packed until they meet her in court.

她陰魂不息云頂某某酒店

2008-12-23T13:46:00.000+08:00

在某一個星期六，我与好友曉佩，嘉倩到云頂去遊玩。因為我們坐晚上的最後一班車到某高山游勝地，
所以到了那兒大概有九點多了。我們三人都住在酒店里的同一間房，收拾好行李後，
大家便坐在一起談天說地。忽然間談到鬼節，在我們三人之中只有我是個膽小鬼。越談越刺激，
談到夜晚十一時四十五分。嘉倩因為很餓便說要下去買東西吃，留下我一個人。
我為了要面子便硬著頭皮答應了，因為只剩下我一個人，所以我只好讀故事書，當我讀得津津有味時，
突然有人敲門，我便跑去開門，有位少女拿著一包東西說："妳的朋友叫我把食物拿給妳。"
過後她便走了，我好奇為什麼嘉倩与曉佩自己不拿上來呢？我把食物放在飯桌上。我想了又想，
又有人敲門，我一開門，我便嚇了一跳，因為嘉倩和曉佩都拿著一包新鮮的熱狗，
我便好奇地問到："剛才妳們不是叫人拿食物上來給我嗎了？" 曉佩說："沒有呀！"，
於是我便指著桌上那包食物說："剛才有位少女交給我一包東西，她說是妳們托她交給我的。"
我們三人的眼神立刻注視在桌上那包東西。不一會兒，那包東西不翼而飛了。
嘉倩与曉佩說只是心理作用，可是，我的确收到那包東西啊！
大家吃飽後，便繼續談天，一陣陣冷風迎面吹來，曉佩立刻走向窗口要把玻璃窗關上，
怎知，玻璃窗早已被關上了。這時候隱隱約約看見一件衣服挂在樹上，由於曉佩不迷信，
所以不加以理會，談到兩點，我覺得很累便入眠了。
第二天，我們很早便起床，梳洗一番後便去吃早餐，然後到處遊玩。大家玩得很高興，
到傍晚七點許，我們才依依不捨地回房休息，我們回到房里，便輪流沖涼。當輪到嘉倩沖涼時，
有人敲門。於是，嘉倩便去開門。一開門，有一陣陣寒風吹了進來，她以為有人玩她，便不加以理會，
繼續沖涼，當手觸摸到浴缸的水時，發覺暖水變成了冷水，又傳來一陣陣的哭泣聲，
嘉倩被嚇得手忙腳亂地穿上衣服便跑去浴室，誰料到，門自動地開了。
嘉倩邊跑邊喊："鬼...鬼...鬼...啊！" 曉佩和我被嘉倩這麼一喊，頓時嚇呆了。
隆...隆...隆...外面下起大雨。我們非常害怕，便一起去關窗。當時，
我們看見一位少女吊在樹上而且還對著我們微微笑，我們被嚇得魂不附体，拔腿就跑去房門，
當走到樓梯時，一位老工人見我們如此慌張便問我們甚麼事，我們一五一十地告訴他，
他聽了後臉色變了，然後誥訴我們："以前有一位少女住在妳們現在所住的房間，
因為被男友拋棄才會在那樹上吊頸死掉，她的魂一直得不到安息！
我們聽了，立刻要求老板換房，經過這次的經驗後，我們不敢再住那間酒店了。

From Geneva to Beirut on a peace-building mission

2008-12-15T11:52:00.002+08:00

I started a two-nation journey with a peace-building workshop in Geneva, organised by news agency InfoSud and journalism network Media21. Geneva served as an appropriate destination as it is home to approximately 200 international organisations. It is where decision makers, diplomats, mediators and warring parties meet.One of the most prominent international organisations in Geneva is the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), part of International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The organisation's logo is such a powerful symbol of neutrality that it has been abused by governments to serve their own interests. The Red Cross recently came under pressure to adopt a third symbol and opted for the red diamond.At the Red Cross museum in Geneva, the first exhibit that greets visitors are passages from the holy books of major religions, including Islam, Christianity, Judaism and Hinduism among others, that speak of human rights. The museum has a fascinating collection of exhibits, including the First Geneva Convention.I also visited the United Nations Office at Geneva. The building, called Palais des Nations (Palace of Nations), was the headquarters of the League of Nations between 1929 and 1938 and became the UN office in Geneva in the 1950s. Switzerland did not become a member of the United Nations until 2002 as part of its policy of neutrality. The joining made the country the 190th member state.The next leg of the journey was to Beirut, part of a field trip to see the aftermath of war. Lebanon saw a brutal month-long war with Israel in the south during the summer of 2006. I arrived at the height of political tension in the city, much of which escalated after the war. Here you can see graffiti on a wall reading "[Rafiq] Hariri only", in an area that is considered a stronghold of the March 14 movement led by Sa'ad Hariri, Rafiq's political heir.Areas of Beirut that would usually be crowded with tourists from the Gulf and around the world were silent, with little business or activity. Restaurateurs in the downtown area said business had not been so bad in years, blaming the political deadlock and the long-held protest by the opposition. In the capital, I met the Swiss ambassador to Lebanon, a political analyst and former finance minister Georges Corm, who gave me their take on the war with Israel and the political situation there.I also met Hezbollah officials who took me on a tour of the Dahiyah, the southern suburbs of Beirut, which saw heavy bombing by Israel during the war. Rebuilding has started and is being spearheaded by a new company called Promise, with the slogan: To build the Dahiyah better than it was. The company is controlled by Hezbollah and officials say funding for the rebuilding has come from various Gulf and Arab countries.The next stop was Tyre in south Lebanon. I stayed in Old Tyre, which has changed hands a number of times. The Mediterranean port city is perhaps best known as an ancient Phoenician city. Tyre has a fascinating history. Few buildings in the area we stayed in were built later than the 1800s or 1900s, and many were much older.Roman ruins in Tyre. The city has changed hands between Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, the Crusaders and Ottomans. It is not uncommon to find local fishermen illegally selling ancient coins and relics to tourists. The city today is home to Christians and Shiite Muslims, with mosques and ancient churches a few steps away from each others.Political symbols were all over Tyre, as they are in Beirut. But most of Tyre's Christians are supporters of the Free Patriotic Movement led by Michelle Aoun, and the Shiites are supporters of Aoun's allies Amal and Hezbollah, led by Nabih Berri and Hassan Nasrallah respectively. Political souvenirs, like this one of Nasrallah, are popular among tourists, workers of international organisations and the soldiers serving in Lebanon under the United Nations, shopkeepers say.The yellow building next to the lighthouse is where we stayed, Al Fanar hotel. It is a family-owned business for many generations. The owner's wife told me that every floor has its own history. The basement served as stables during the Crusades, which has been turned into a tiny nightclub. The ground floor was built in the early Ottoman period and the first floor in the last century.Dalia Farran, spokesperson of the United Nations Mine Action Coordination Centre (UNMACC), explains the damage caused by the mines and cluster bombs Israel had used in Lebanon. Once demining operations were almost over, the region came under attack again by Israel in 2006, when approximately one million cluster munitions were dropped. Dalia said the failure rate observed on the cluster sub-munitions during the war proved to be higher than average.On display is a map that Israel has provided to the United Nations, apparently indicating the areas in which the bombs were dropped. The UNMACC says they are of no use to them since the drawings are very vague. What the UN has persistently asked for, says Dalia Farran, is data showing the coordinates of each drop. Israel says it has fulfilled its obligation by handing over this drawings. Next stop was the office of Handicap International. The organisation is one of a few that is engaged in cluster sub-munitions demining activity in south Lebanon. Other organisations have lost a few members of clearance teams. Handicap International has not lost any. The organisation coordinates with village mukhtars (or leaders) to inform about and attempt to clear bomblets, if found and sends in teams to search and clear. Clearance teams search the reported areas with special detectors and slowly start to uncover the bomblet before either removing it or destroying it in a control explosion.Many of the cluster sub-munitions were dropped in residential areas and farms in the hilly south of Lebanon, where the ribbons on some munitions would get stuck in tree branches and make them harder to spot. A lot of residents or the area and families rely on farming to make a living, which was disrupted for some. And it was time for us to leave Al Fanar hotel, which is popular with members of international organisations that live in Tyre. It is business as usual when I bid adieu.